The Planet, Our Home
by JudyQ
Summary: Saga of How the Advancers reach New Pacifica and What they do when they get there
1. The Window

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This story is based on the television program, "Earth2" and is not meant to infringe on any copyrights or anything. It's just a little story for my own enjoyment and perhaps yours as well. Although this story falls first in the chronology of my saga, it was actually ninth one that I wrote. I never meant this saga thing to get so out of hand!

This story falls between the end of the Earth2 television series, "All about Eve," and my story "The River." I figured I would put in my two cents regarding what happened with Devon (something I had been avoiding up until this point). Oh well, I hope it works. The story explores grief and hope and all that sort of stuff. Give it a try. As with all of my stories, it doesn't highlight any one person. Okay, I do tend to highlight one person in my stories, but it's not so obvious here.

* * *

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THE PLANET - OUR HOME - part 1

The Window 

(The Voice of Julia Heller): "It's been a month now. A month of experiments and false starts and a steady sinking into a sort of oblivion. When we first started falling ill, I was afraid. When Eben died, I felt this terrible terror, this horrible feeling of uselessness. I was born to heal. I was unable to heal her. When we all started to fall ill, following Eben, I was frantic to find the cure. Then, once the solution was discovered and Eve repaired the BioStat chips, everything seemed to be right again. But everything is not right. Devon Adair, our leader, has not recovered, and there is nothing that I can do. Every day I try. Every day I wake up and try again to find the cure for something I cannot even begin to understand. I need to find a way to solve this soon. I need to find that portal to the cure." 

* * * *

Elisha Denner carefully scratched her left leg with her right foot, then straightened out again. After several minutes, she tried again to remove her shoes by leveraging them off, but failed. "You got it yet?" Danziger asked. He had been staring at the lower part of Denner's legs for the last ten minutes and was tired of trying to interpret her progress from her foot movements. At least it kept his mind from other things. 

The legs disappeared completely and Denner's head finally emerged from beneath the TransRover. "I think I got it right this time," she said as she wiggled out from under the machine. 

Danziger nodded and wordlessly crawled into the area she had just vacated. Denner leaned against the sun-warmed the vehicle, and sighed. It has been her idea to start learning vehicle electronics. During their first month of waiting, she had tried to find little things to do around the camp, but after a long winter of trying to find little things, she needed something big. And now, she was actually beginning to learn something. 

She glanced up at the rocky hillside beside her. The day was half over. It wouldn't be much longer and they would be in shadow again. High up on the hill, carved by the elements, a window peered through the stone. It created a rectangle of light as the shadows crept into their camp. Later, when the shade of the rock filled the area, Denner would search out that rectangle so that she could still sit in the sunlight when all the rest was dark. 

Denner turned when she heard the sound of movement and saw the 'gathering group' returning. True was in the lead, carrying several shovels on her shoulder. The rest followed glumly behind her. Cameron hefted a large sack on his back, while the Martins carried another sack between them. 

True picked up her pace when she saw Denner and ran to meet her. "Did you get the undercarriage rewired or did Dad just drive you crazy about it. He can be a real pain in the butt about things like that sometimes" 

"I heard that!" Danziger's voice came from behind Denner, and True clamped her hands over her mouth. 

Denner rapped loudly on the body of the TransRover, as True dropped to her knees and looked under it. "I was just kidding Dad." 

He smiled tightly back at her in the tight confines, "I know True-girl." True felt a little sad, seeing that smile. It wasn't really like him to give up so easily when he had such an easy prey. He just didn't seem to care about little things like a simple joke anymore. 

Denner hopped to her feet and took True by the hand. "Come on, let's see what you guys came up with." 

Cameron, Morgan and Bess had carried the bags to the food preparation area. Eden Advance was nearly out of food supplies. They had enough for about another month. The options were to find another cargo pod, find native food, or starve. Because they had not picked up the signal of a cargo pod since the last disastrous mission, and because the idea of starvation wasn't exactly appealing, they had chosen the second option. They had tried Grendler Fruit up until now, but that was the extent of their native G889 diet.

Cameron spilled out his bag as Morgan and Bess roughly set down theirs. Yellowish roots tumbled across the table. Morgan dusted his hands on his shirt and muttered, "Well, we got that miserable bit of business out of the way. I can't believe we wasted all day digging up garbage. I know for a fact that I am not eating any of it." 

"We all have to get used to new things, Morgan," Bess said with a sigh. 

"Look at me, I am filthy." Morgan rubbed at the front of his shirt. "I am never going to be clean again. You can't even tell that this shirt used to be white. I don't think I can stand this anymore." He glanced over at the roots again. "Those things stink." 

"It's just the peels," Cameron said sharply. "The insides should be edible." 

"That doesn't mean we gotta eat stuff like that. I mean, it was buried in the ground!" He shook his head distastefully. "You'd have to be an idiot to think that was a good idea. If you knew what you were doing, maybe you'd be able to find us something decent to eat instead of this crap." He looked up and caught the cold quiet eyes of Cameron. He shrugged, "Whatever. I'm going back to sleep. At least that will be productive," and he stormed off to his tent. 

Bess watched him go and sighed again, loudly. Morgan rarely left their tent since Devon had become ill, since they were stopped here at this bleak place. Bess was able to convince him to help out from time to time, but those instances were growing farther and farther apart. Besides, nobody really wanted his help these days. Before this last challenge, he was really doing his best to pitch in with the rest of them, but now he seemed to be trying his best to throw up walls between himself and everyone else. She had no strength to stop him. 

Denner grabbed one of the obscene looking tubers and asked, "So, what exactly to you plan to do with this stuff?" She turned it over in her hands and smiled. 

Cameron responded quietly, "It should be a fairly good food source, sorta like a potato." He numbly moved the vegetables around. "I'll just have to do some experimenting I guess." 

Denner looked between Bess and Cameron and saw the same weary sorrow. Since the death of Eben, neither of them was quite themselves. She was used to their cheery brightness, so this heavy sadness wore on her too. Denner did her best to fill the void. Everyone used to say how quiet she was, hardly noticeable. She used to feel it was better that way. People only hurt you if you get to know them too well. But her opinion had changed. Now, she did what she could to add a bit of luster to the desolation. She could see that Bess and Cameron were both in one of those moods where it would be difficult to loosen them. 

So instead, she looked down to True. The girl was sulky and bored. "Come on True," she said, "Let's find something to do." That was a problem of course, finding something to do. 

Walman, Baines, Mazatl and Magus had left on a scouting trip. They had been gone for ten days now. She didn't blame them for staying away for so long. The mood of this group was horrible right now. Bess and Cameron still grieved for Eben. Uly was inconsolable over his mother's illness. He spent most of his time beside her status chamber. Danziger walked about in a fog. Part of the reason she had taken up vehicle electronics was to draw him out of that haze. Morgan hardly spoke to anyone anymore. When he did speak, it was always something hurtful. 

Yale also seemed dimmed by the events. Devon had grown up in his care, and her undiagnosable illness effected him terribly. Julia worked day and night at her laboratory, working on the cure. But she had found nothing yet. True was mainly affected by her father, and the distance he was placing between them. Denner tried to be a friend to her. 

Denner spotted Alonzo, sitting with his back against the MedTent. "Good ole Alonzo," Denner said to herself, "He's as bored as me and True." 

"Hey, Stranger," she said and sat beside him, "Any news today?" 

"Nah," Alonzo said with a shake of his head. "Julia's been working herself sick over this whole thing. And she still doesn't have any answers." 

"She'll find it," True said with confidence. "I know she will." 

The three of them sat silently, with their backs against the MedTent, and waited. 

* * * *

"Hello John Danziger. Have you come for a visit?" Zero queried as the man approached the wrecked Earth Ship. "I am so very glad to be seeing you. Are you having a pleasant day?" 

"Yeah," Danziger said non-committally as he brushed past the mechanical worker, into the craft and to the stasis chambers. He could find his way blindly if needed. Uly sat silently across from his mother's chamber; his eyes were red and his face puffy. 

"Hey kid," he said, "How ya doing?" Uly said nothing, and kicked at a rock on the floor. "You mind if I just stay here for a while?" Uly shrugged in response, so Danziger sat down beside him, across from the chamber. The Terrian staff still leaned against it like a sentinel, 

The man watched the boy, who watched the face of his mother. "It looks like it's going to be a nice day today," he said helpfully. The boy only grunted. "Not too hot," he added. Uly made no sound this time. "Because it's been pretty hot lately. I don't know, it seems like we are either freezing or too damn hot here. One or the other. Nothing in-between. It would be nice if..." Danziger trailed off, realizing that Uly wasn't even listening to him. It was too hard to make small talk anyway. 

He moved beside the boy, and put an arm around him. Uly was stiff and cold, staring straight ahead of him. "We'll get her out of there, Uly. I promise. We won't leave her behind either." 

Danziger held the boy tightly, and looked across the room. Within the chamber, behind a window of plexiglas, Devon was beautiful and silent, and waiting. 

* * * *

Bess entered her tent without speaking and found her jacket. She paused for a moment and looked at Morgan who was sitting on the bed, with his back to the door, facing the windowless wall of the tent. She wanted to talk to him, but just couldn't bring herself to speak. He had been so short with everyone lately, and she really didn't want to deal with his childishness right now. 

Bess wanted to sit and talk to him about how much she missed Eben, and how vulnerable she felt now that one of their close-knit group was gone. Eben was their spark. She was Bess' first friend. She was the one who would sit back and observe everything. She knew little secrets about everyone and kept those secrets. She was everyone's confidant. She had a wicked sense of humor and a vast memory for funny stories. She preferred sunrise to sunset. She would get 'carsick' if she road on the TransRover for too long and would get cranky when she was hungry. She had a cousin named Pip and an aunt she called Lu-la. She thought she just might want to marry Cameron someday. She loved to sing. She liked hard candy. She missed her mother. She was dead. 

Bess wished she could just get over this unbearable sadness. Everyone told her that time was the best healer, and that if she could just wait it out, she would be okay. 

* * * *

Yale watched Cameron maul a tuber into a pulp and throw the mess into a skillet. "So, it is going to be edible?" he asked. 

Cameron turned quickly, startled. "Oh, oh yeah," he said, "I am just giving it another try. The peel is very bitter. Last time, I left a little bit on and it ruined the batch." He pointed to the pan. "This one should be better." 

"Will it be an acceptable food source, once the spirolina runs out?" 

Cameron stirred the contents of the pan listlessly, "Yeah, it should be okay. If frying them like this doesn't work, I'll try boiling them next. Maybe I will boil them and then fry them. Something should be okay." 

"How are you doing?" Yale asked. 

"Oh fine," he fiddled with the pan, "I miss Eben though." He nodded and looked at the tutor, "She was great wasn't she? Dontcha miss her too?" 

"Yes," Yale responded, "I miss her very much." 

"And Devon too. It is so weird, you know, because she's not dead or anything. But it's kinda like she is." He shook his head. "She's here and yet she's not here, and we're all left waiting for something to happen. Geez, I just wish Julia could come up with something soon." He flipped the potatoes and looked to Yale. "I just feel so... weird." 

"It's natural, Cameron. I think we all feel that way." Yale said sympathetically. "I'm hear to listen, anytime you need me." 

Cameron nodded, "Yeah, I appreciate that. Maybe after I finish up with this stuff we can talk some more." 

"I would like that." Yale responded. 

"Hi Yale." True said as she approached. "You think we could do one of those lesson things or something?" 

Yale had to smile at the girl. She must be very bored. "Perhaps we could go for a walk first?" he asked. True nodded. "So, I will see you later?" Yale said to Cameron, who continued his work to find a usable food source. Cameron nodded without looking up. Yale took the girl's hand, and the two of them started away from the camp. 

They walked toward the rocky hillside. "I wish people would just go back to normal," True said finally. "Dad is like, different, and Uly doesn't want to do anything anymore. We never even get to see Julia 'cause she's working all the time. And when do you think Walman and the others are coming back? I wish I coulda gone with them. At least that way, I wouldn't have to hear Morgan complaining all the time." 

"Give them time, True. They've received quite a blow with recent events." 

"I miss Eben too. But you don't see me acting like the rest of them." True kicked up a cloud of dust as she walked, "And I don't know why everyone is so scared about Devon. Julia will find a cure. You keep saying that yourself, so why is everyone acting so stupid?" 

"We're just a little worried," Yale returned. "She is our leader. We have lost our focus." 

"Well, somebody better get our focus back." True said sternly. 

* * * *

Uly had fallen asleep. Danziger pulled off his jacket and placed it over the sleeping boy. "Poor kid," he said out loud, leaning over the child. Uly had spent his whole life living with his own impending death. It didn't seem fair that this should happen to his mother. 

Danziger straightened and reminded himself that Devon was not going to die, that the cure would be found. He walked the short distance to the stasis chamber and gazed in at her. She looked as if she was sleeping, so peaceful and lovely. She was poised in that strange place between life and death. As long as she stayed there, she would live. If he were to activate the controls to wake her, she would die. 

He touched the cool transparent surface gently. He ran his hand along the outline of her chin, wishing he could touch her. He longed to hear her voice again, to smell her hair, to feel the warmth of her skin. Now, he could only gaze at her through the plate, and across the void. 

* * * *

"Damn it," Julia growled under her breath and brushed her arm across her tired eyes. "Not again." She scowled at the latest results of her experiments. It wasn't as if she expected a different result. She had run this same experiment four times already, each time ending in failure. She had just hoped that it would work this time. 

The fact was, she had run out of ideas. She had run countless computer simulations and physical experiments, not once finding anything close to a cure for Devon. She had tried everything reasonable and a lot of things that were unreasonable. Nothing worked. 

Julia had begun her experiments with Eben's BioStat chip, since that was the most obvious difference between Devon and the rest of them. But as far as Julia could tell, the BioStat chips had nothing to do with Devon's illness. This affliction was different. The planet was rejecting her. And, Julia realized the planet would reject the rest of them as well, just as Elizabeth had said. If the cure was not found, everyone would eventually succumb. 

"Julia," Alonzo said as he entered, "You ready for a break?" 

"A break in the case is definitely what I need. Any kind of break." 

"How about a protein bar break?" Alonzo said, holding up two packets. 

"I'll take anything I can get," she said, reaching for the pack. 

They sat down together and opened their lunch. "Cameron's been out there cooking up some sort of root thing," Alonzo said. "It is actually starting to smell kinda good." 

Julia nodded, "I hope he finds something palatable. We're going to need it soon, especially if I am not successful in the next week or so. We might be stuck here for a while yet. Any word from the scouting party?" 

Alonzo shrugged. "They're about 100 klicks to the west right now. I think they're just on a joy-ride. Nothing to report." 

Julia nodded, realizing that from their reports, that the scouting party was nearly as somber as the rest of the Advancers. There was no joy-ride. "I've got to find something soon." Julia sighed, "I just don't have any more ideas." 

"Something will come up," Alonzo said, reassuringly. 

****

Yale and True had walked along the steadily increasing incline and reached the place where the hillside became a rocky bluff. True started climbing. Yale stood below for several moments, watching her. "Don't climb too far," he said, patronizingly. 

She glanced down at him. "I'm climbing to the Window," she said. 

"Now True, it may not be safe." 

True looked up. The slope was steep, but not dangerous. The window in the rock was not that far above. "I'm going," she stated. "I don't care if it's dangerous." 

"True, do you want me to call your father? Please come down." Yale said softly. 

She turned towards him, "Oh please Yale, it's not so far. I have to do something. I'm so tired of doing nothing day after day." 

Yale sighed, in spite of himself; he could see no real harm in the little enterprise. "Then I shall go with you. Let me contact the others and let them know where we have gone. At least they will know where to go looking for our bones." 

True smiled as Yale pulled on his GEAR. Alonzo responded. "What's up?" the pilot asked. 

"True and I are going on a bit of an adventure. We're climbing to the Window." 

"The window? Oh, you mean the one in the mountain?" They could see Alonzo amongst the tents, looking toward them. "You're kidding, right?" 

"We need to find an enriching activity and True had decided that climbing to the Window will suffice." 

Alonzo paused, as if he was trying to think of some reason to stop them. "Have fun," he said finally. 

Yale shook his head and pulled off his GEAR, then started climbing toward True. His Grip was not designed for climbing, but it worked fairly well in that endeavor. The climb was not difficult. They stopped to rest twice, mostly for Yale's sake, on convenient ledges. True was eager to continue. The higher they climbed, the more of the surrounding area was revealed around them. 

"Do you really think Julia will find something soon to cure Devon?" True asked as they rested the second time. 

"I do believe that she will find the cure," Yale said, catching his breath.

True looked unconvinced. "I just hope she does soon. We gotta start moving again pretty soon, you know. We gotta make it to New Pacifica before the Colony Ship gets there. We're late already." 

"Yes, I know," Yale said. "And it is my belief that we will make it there in time, all of us." 

"Everyone except Eben," True added. 

"That is true," Yale conceded, watching True's face carefully. "You haven't said much about Eben or Devon since this all started." 

"What's there to say?" True said with a shrug. "They just went and got sick and now Eben's dead. She just left us. And Devon is ... well she's..." True squinted her eyes. She shook her head and whispered, "It's just not fair. Why do things like that have to happen? Eben was so nice. She used to talk to me and tell me things that nobody else did. Why did she have to die? Why did Devon get sick when we needed her so much? We need her but she can't help us. Why? It's just not right." She started crying. 

Yale put his arm around the girl and hugged her, "I know it hurts sometimes, True. I know it isn't fair. We can't give up now. Look, we're almost to the Window. If we keep climbing we'll get there. Just the same, if we keep trying, if we don't give up, we may find the cure for Devon and we will reach New Pacifica." 

She looked up at the Window. It was within reach. 

They continued their upward climb, and finally reached the Window, carved by wind through stone. Yale climbed into the opening. "A marvelous thing," Yale said, "the effect of wind on stone." He moved his hand through the air, "It's intangible, weightless, invisible, and yet it was able to carve its way though this mountainside." He ran his other arm along the rock. "If something as light as air can do this, then anything is possible." 

Yale had just pulled True up beside him, to sit in the opening, when his GEAR beeped. "Hey!" Alonzo shouted. "You guys made it! I can see you!" They looked back toward the camp. It looked quite small and far away, but they could see Alonzo and several others facing them. "I bet you get a pretty good view from up there" 

Alonzo was right. The view was tremendous. To the east, they could see the mountains where they had spent the winter. To the west, another range of mountains rose from the land. To the south, a plane stretched out for endless klicks, filled with lakes and hills and pockets of trees. To the north, a wetland with its mossy trees and ferns. It was a big planet, a wide world. 

"We can see a great deal," Yale confirmed. It was as if they were standing in the window of the world. 

"We shoulda brought some jumpers!" True said. "We could probably find the DuneRail and the guys if we had 'em." She scanned the horizon for the others. She then looked down, through the window to the other side of the mountain, and said, "Look Yale!" 

Yale looked where she indicated. It took a moment for him to figure out what he saw. Just on the other side of the window, tucked up against the rock, was a group of withered plants. Yale grabbed True and pulled her away from it. "I need to talk to Julia," he said quickly to Alonzo via the GEAR.

Down below, they saw one of the figures beside Alonzo move, and then Julia appeared on GEAR. "What is it Yale?"

"Julia, there are plants up here that resemble the spring-flowers. The flower is still intact" Spring-flower was the name they gave to the devious plants which implanted their 'pollen' on any passing victim, forcing them to travel northward to deposit the pollen into the maw of the planet to bring spring. 

"Get away from them, now!" Julia said with some alarm. "You know what they did to Bess and the others." 

"But the plants are dead," True said. "The flowers are all dried out." She tried to point at the dried up flowers, but Yale held her tightly. She was not on GEAR, but she understood the gist of what was going on. 

"The last thing I need..." Julia trailed off. "Did I hear True say that the flowers were dried?" 

Yale nodded, "Yes, unlike the plants we've already seen, they don't appear to have spent their pollen. It appears that the flowers fully matured, but died before they could disperse it. Apparently these plants did not receive enough water, or there isn't enough soil, or perhaps because they did not find a suitable carrier..." 

Julia interrupted, "Look, if you can get one of those plants down here safely, I might just have an idea. If I can harvest the healing aspects of that plant, I just might have a way to cure Devon." 

Yale stood alert, thinking about what she had said. They all knew that the plant could heal as well as hurt. It was worth a try. First he sent True down to the nearest ledge, to keep her out of harms way if the plant managed to spray its cargo. Then, he threw his coat over the flowers, to contain them. Working blindly, he uprooted the plants whole, and tied it up inside his garment. Carefully carrying the bundle under his arm, he met True on the ledge and the two of them finished scaling the hillside 

When True and Yale returned to camp, they found it in a different state. There was a spark of life there now. There was no assurance of anything, but suddenly there was hope. Julia accepted the bundle from Yale and took it quickly into her lab. The flowers had healed Bess' laser burns and the cut on her hand. It had healed the burns on Morgan's face and eye. If she could find a way to active the healing properties and null the side-effects, she might be able to bring Devon out of her sickness. Hell, even if Devon went on a campaign to the "north," it would be better than this. 

* * * *

Bess walked into her tent and sat next to Morgan. "Did you hear the good news?" 

"The only good news I want to hear is that they've found a way off this miserable planet," Morgan grumbled. "This is the worst possible hell I can think of." 

"Julia thinks they may have found a cure for Devon." 

"Oh great, so we can get moving again, as if I would really want to do that. Day after day of traveling, my feet hurt just thinking about it." He scowled at the blank wall of the tent and would not look at her. His voice was bitter and terse. "The last thing in the world I would want to do is to travel with this bunch again." 

"She thinks that she can use the spring-flowers as a cure." 

"That's good," he said sarcastically. "That thing just about killed you. Yeah, good idea. Let's unleash it on our leader. Smart. I bet they'll be using it on the rest of us next. Who came up with that plan? They're all just a bunch of complete idiots. This is all pointless. Why did I ever sign up for this mission? I must be out of my mind." 

"I'm sorry," she said softly. 

He stopped short and looked at her. "What for?" 

"I don't know. Whatever it is that you are so mad at me about. I'm sorry." 

"But," he stopped again and looked away, "Don't be sorry about anything. YOU haven't done anything." He looked at her again and noticed that she was crying, and his entire demeanor changed. "Ah Bess, ah Bess, don't cry. I'm not mad at you. Please don't cry because of anything I said. What's wrong?" 

"I miss her so much," she was sobbing now. Morgan held his wife tightly to himself as she cried pitifully against his shoulder. "I miss Eben every day. She was my best friend and she's gone now. I just wish she was back with us." 

"Shhhh...shhhh," Morgan said quietly, holding her tightly. 

"Everyone keeps saying 'just give it time,' or 'it'll be okay' but it isn't okay and it's not getting better. I still miss her. We have so few things here. All we really have is each other." 

"I know," Morgan said softly, gently. 

"And Devon," she sniffed miserably, "Oh Morgan, if Devon dies too..." 

Morgan wished he knew some good words. He knew that there must be some words out there somewhere that would fix everything and make his wife happy again, but he couldn't come up with them. All he could do is hold her. Finally he said, "I'm here Bess. I'm sorry I wasn't here for you before, but I am here now. I can't fix what I did. I know they should just throw me out and leave me. I should be locked up somewhere. But I want to let you know that I am here for you." 

She pulled away from him, only so that she could meet his eyes. "What are you talking about, Morgan?" 

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out immediately. "You know. I killed them," He said finally. "I killed them all." 

"Morgan, what...?" 

He nodded slowly and painfully. "I killed all those people on the Earth Ship. I'm a murderer, Bess. I killed them." 

This time it was Bess' turn to hold him. "Oh no, no Morgan. It wasn't your fault." 

"But it was, Bess. If I had just gone to Julia or Devon or someone instead of running in there and trying to wake them up myself. I was just doing what he told me, but it was all wrong. It's my fault that they died...all my fault. I never wanted to hurt anybody. Bess, I killed them." 

"Morgan," she held him tightly, "you were trying to help. You thought you were going to save them, to save all of us. And if you didn't activate their ColdSleep Chambers, well, we would all be dead: you, me, everyone." 

"I wish I hadn't done it. I wish I never listened to that guy. I wish... I wish..." he stopped, too flustered to go on. "I wish I wasn't such a bad person." 

"You are a good person, Morgan Martin," Bess whispered to him. "You must be, because I love you." 

* * * *

Julia and Cameron sat before the computers and waited for a response. "This one should tell us if will be successful," Julia said. "I have the simulation worked out pretty accurately." 

Cameron nodded. "I've got a good feeling about this. That pollen stuff seems to be the answer to our prayers. I mean, we've only been working on it for three days, and I think we're pretty close to a solution." 

"It's closer than I've been before, that's all I know," Julia responded. "So far there doesn't seem to be any of the destructive side-effects present. We might have circumvented the 'north' syndrome." She glanced over to Cameron and said thoughtfully, "Thank you." 

"Huh?" Cameron jerked his head up, "What for?" 

"I couldn't have done this without you. I know everything there is to know about medical sciences and have a fairly intricate encyclopedia of botanical sciences on line here, but you just have a ..." 

"...knack for plants?" Cameron completed her sentence. "Well, I don't know what that spring-flower is exactly, not a plant. But I guess I kinda had a hunch about a couple of things." He smiled slightly. "Thanks though, I mean for bringing me in on this. I really kinda needed to do something worthwhile." 

"Cameron, you do so much that is worthwhile, I wouldn't know where to start." Julia said soothingly. "Just think about the food source you've discovered. Everyone is eating it now. You will keep us from starving."

The computer suddenly pinged and the two of them stopped their discussion and leaned in to read the screen. 

* * * *

"Okay, do it," Julia said to Alonzo, who started the 'wake up' program on the stasis chamber. She glanced to her right, to where Danziger stood with Uly and True. Uly held tightly onto one of Danziger's arms and watched her with serious eyes. Danziger's eyes were fixed on Devon. Julia turned to her left where Morgan and Bess stood with their arms around each other. It was the first time in weeks that she had seen Morgan when he wasn't working to make an ass out of himself. Cameron, Denner and Yale were behind her, while Alonzo ran the controls. Cameron carried the portable lab and was ready to step in at any minute if he was needed. Zero was waiting outside. Walman, Magus, Baines and Mazatl were somewhere to the west, heading toward them. She counted them all in her head. Eben was nearby too, with a stone marker at her grave. 

She waited until the right moment, when the readings showed that Devon was beginning to awaken. Julia stepped forward and opened the chamber. Devon lay there, as if asleep. Julia applied the SedaDerm and the dark haired woman gasped for breath. Devon gasped again and opened her eyes, looking ahead, astonished. She raised her hand to her neck as Julia ran the DiaGlove over her. The doctor looked up to Alonzo to make sure he was ready to turn the systems back on if necessary. He stood with his hands at the controls. 

Cameron, holding the spare SedaDerm, waited for any sign from Julia. Denner glanced back toward him, nervously. 

Bess concentrated her thoughts on Devon. "Oh, please," she thought. "Please, let her live. Only that, just let Devon live." She looked over at Morgan. His eyes were intent on what was going on, his hand tightly interwoven with hers. 

Julia checked the readings on the DiaGlove. She signaled to Cameron, who stepped forward with a second dosage, which Julia quickly applied. "Come on, come on," she muttered, as Devon breathed painfully. 

"You can do it, Devon," Yale thought. "I know you can do it. You can do anything." 

John held tightly onto the two children, his mind reeled with images of Devon. All he wanted to do was pick her up and hold her in his arms. Uly hardly breathed. True couldn't find a place to settle her gaze. 

And then suddenly, Devon's gasping stopped. Alonzo looked alarmed, and ready to restart the ColdSleep process, but Julia stopped him. 

Outside the structure, Zero waited. His mechanical mind running scenarios and coming to the conclusion that the best resolution would be for the leader of their group to return to consciousness. 

Out to the west, a DuneRail hurried across the landscape. The four occupants, stayed tuned to their GEAR, waiting for the good news, hoping and praying to themselves, headed toward the others. 

And then, Devon's breathing came slow and easy. Her wild eyes closed and reopened slowly, and then she smiled. "Hello, doctor," Devon Adair said weakly. "I take it you found the cure." 

There was shouting and cheering in the small room. Everywhere Devon looked, there were the faces of the Eden Advancers. They were the last things she had seen before she fell into her sleep. Now they were her first sight. She could think of nothing better. 

* * * *

Danziger sat beside her bed, holding Devon's hand, staring into her eyes. "I waited for you," he said simply. 

"I know," her voice was tired. "And I waited for you." Her body was still frail from its ordeal. Julia had said it would take some time for her to be ready to travel again. Uly was curled up at her side, asleep and smiling. His small body was finally relaxed. 

Mazatl, Walman, Baines and Magus had returned a few hours earlier. They sent up such a racket that the stone walls around them seemed to shake. It was good to have everyone back again. Everything was beginning to feel like normal again, almost normal. 

Devon spoke again, quietly, "You know I saw something for a moment, when I first opened my eyes. I thought I saw Eben standing there, with the rest of you. She was smiling. I heard her say, 'Hang in there Chief. They're pulling for you.' I wanted to call out her name, but she just laughed and said, 'Not now, you've got other things to do. Tell them I love them. Tell them to take care. Tell them, aw, I don't know. Just go back to them now. Get them to New Pacifica. Take them home.'" Devon smiled weakly at Danziger, "And then I was awake with all of you." 

"I am so glad to have you back," Danziger said. He leaned toward her and ran his hand along her chin, tilting her head up toward him. "Don't ever do that to us again." 

"Never," she replied. 

* * * *

(Voice of Julia Heller): I have not seen any side effects from the spring-flower cure, and I plan to keep it that way. We waited three weeks to allow Devon to recover her strength, but no longer. She wouldn't allow it. Summer was waning and we needed to cross the next range of mountains before winter stopped us again. It felt good to be traveling, to be moving toward New Pacifica. 

So far we have seen no further signs of this illness. It seems rather coincidental that once we started eating the yellow tubers, the rejection process seems to have stopped. I will continue to monitor the progression with the others. 

The healing process is continuing among us. Already I can see a change. Uly and John are alive again. Cameron and Bess seemed to have brightened. Even Morgan is helping out again. We are moving on with our journey and our lives. 

It is as if we finally found a window to let the light back in. 

****

THE END 

* * *

[Drop me a note, let me know what you think. Even if it's just to complain. ][1]

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Kind of a sad story, but still, it had to be told. I always felt that Eben was kinda left out of the picture, and this was my salute to her. 

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	2. The River

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Okay, here is the second part of my saga "The Planet, Our Home." It is actually the first story that I wrote. I never really intended on writing so many. "The River" is also part of a trilogy within the saga "The River, The Road and the Sky Beyond" so just be ready for that. I hope that isn't confusing. As always, this story is just for fun. I'm not meaning to infringe on anything! All of the characters belong to the creators of Earth2. 

It gets a little violent. The story takes place after "All about Eve" (and my story "The Window"). I try to play fair and try to give all of the characters something to do, so although the story features Morgan, you should find your favorites doing 'something' in my stories. 

* * *

****

THE PLANET - OUR HOME - part 2

The River 

__

Part of "The River, The Road, And the Sky Beyond" Trilogy

(The Voice of John Danziger): "We've been traveling for over a year now. Our second summer is ending and we're still moving, still together. Sometimes I think about what my life was like when I lived in the space stations. It seems so long ago. It really seems like 23 years have passed, 23 years without ColdSleep. I can hardly remember the friends that I left behind. Here on this planet, there is only 'us.' When we started, we were strangers. Now, we something like a family. We still think about Eben, and how she was taken from us so quickly. It's funny, you never miss someone 'til they're gone. You never think about how you will feel or what you will do until it's too late. I don't think we've really recovered from that yet. Still, Devon is back with us. It only took time to discover the cure -- time, Julia's determination and a bit of luck. I thought I would go crazy waiting, but Julia never gave up, and now Devon is well again. We lost a lot of traveling time while Julia searched for that miracle. Summer is just about over and we are finally traveling again.

Sometimes I think our journey is like a river. I never used to think about rivers before we landed on this planet, but I've discovered that I don't think the same way that I used to. Like a river, we are always moving. Sometimes we travel easy and free, sometimes it is rough and dangerous. There are barriers that must be worn down. There are rapids and falls, still pools, and places where everything runs smoothly. We're at the mercy of the journey. The river continues and so must we." 

* * * * *

"Well, will it work?" Devon asked, as Yale and Danziger walked toward her. 

"It's about five centimeters too narrow," Yale stated. 

Devon frowned. "Five centimeters," she repeated softly. 

Danziger cut in, "I don't think it will be a problem. The wheels on the 'Rover are wide enough so that we can run with the edges of the tires hanging off either side." 

"Will that work?" Devon's question was aimed at Yale. 

"Yes, it will work," the cyborg answered. "If the driver keeps the TransRover perfectly centered, he should be able to cross over the bridge in that manner. There would be no room for error." 

She had been aware of the great river for months. It had weighed heavily on her mind as they traveled. Yale had seen the massive waterway on the aerial photographs and had spotted it from high observation points. The two of them had spent long hours trying to devise a way to cross it. There were only so many options. They could follow it until they reached a point where the river was wide, slow and shallow enough to drive across. They could try to raft the vehicles at a calm section. Or, they could find a narrow stretch and build a bridge. At its narrowest point, the river would be fast, deep and dangerous, but Yale and Devon realized that this would be their most viable option. There was no evidence of a wide shallows and she could not trust the idea of rafting everything and everyone. Yale believed that they would be able to build a bridge out of local materials, so she had aimed their travel toward the narrowest section of the river. And now, when they reached that destination, they found the river just as fierce as they had feared, but they also found something that stunned them . . . a bridge. 

The bridge spanned the river between two rocky brown cliffs. It was a tremendous stone structure, approximately 30 meters long, completely level on top, and with a structurally strong, arched base, beautiful, perfect, and simple. It was fashioned of a black stone, so dense that it showed no sign of erosion, despite the rushing water. Yale had examined the stone and found nothing like it in his databanks. There were no visible markings on the bridge, and no sign of who had built it. The structure was basic, clean, and flawless. The dark stone gave no sign of age and no clue to the bridge's origin. 

The river was fast and furious, boiling around the bridge and frothing over the smooth rocks that attempted to impede its progress. The current whipped through the area so quickly that a branch, caught in the flow, disappeared from sight almost before it was recognizable. 

"I don't like it. The whole situation gives me the creeps," Morgan said as he joined the group. "We know nothing about this bridge. Why can't we just go around it, huh?" 

"You can't exactly go around a river, Morgan," Danziger grumbled. 

"Still, I don't like it," Morgan muttered. "I mean, who built this thing? Are they going to come back while we're on it? Hey, maybe they'll be mad." 

"By the looks of things, nobody has been here for many years," Yale explained. He gestured to the ground near the bridge. "There is no sign of any traffic here. The vegetation has not been disturbed." 

"Still, I don't think it's a good idea." Morgan said, "Maybe it was some of those convicts. Or maybe a couple of ZEDs got together, figured out they had a brain between 'em, and built the thing. They might have booby trapped it or something." 

"I'll drive the 'Rover," Danziger stated. "I think we should unload it before we cross. If we take off all this stuff, it'll make the 'Rover lighter and less top-heavy." He paused. "And if we were to lose it, we'd still have our supplies." 

"Lose it?" Morgan quizzed. "What do you mean by 'lose it'?" 

"I think you're right," Devon answered Danziger. "We'll get the TransRover unloaded, and then we'll take the DuneRail and Zero to the opposite side before we start the crossing, in case something happens." 

"In case what sort of thing happens?" Morgan asked. 

Danziger ignored him and responded to Devon. "You got it," he said, and strode off toward the TransRover. 

"It sounds like a lot of extra work to me," Morgan whined. 

Devon looked out toward the bridge and the deep, quick river. She had been considering a name for the river for some time; it would have to have an important name. The bridge had been an incredible piece of luck. The river crossing would be much easier than she had ever dreamed. 

* * * * *

"Keep coming...slowly...keep coming..." Alonzo was shouting as he cautiously backed along the northern edge of the bridge, while Walman backed along the southern edge. They were acting as markers, to delineate the sides of the bridge. The TransRover followed them, inching along the massive bridge that wasn't quite wide enough. The tires swelled dangerously off either side of the bridge, but Danziger's driving skill kept the TransRover centered. 

Walman gave a startled shout and the TransRover stopped as the man frantically caught his balance. "Careful!" Julia shouted as she and Devon came running up behind Walman, where they had been waiting with Zero and the DuneRail 

"You don't have to tell me twice." Walman laughed uneasily, and toed the edge of the bridge. He had gotten too close that time. The water rushing out from under the bridge made his stomach flip. "All right, let's keep moving!" 

The others watched nervously from behind as the TransRover began its slow movement again. Uly and True were standing at the verge of the bridge, watching intently, while Denner was teasing Matazl by pretending to push him into the water. They were standing at least a meter from the edge, but Matazl moved even further away, just in case. 

Then suddenly, not far from where Walman had lost his footing, almost at the end of the bridge, the TransRover lost its footing as well. The huge vehicle started to tip slowly, then abruptly it lurched forward, crashing heavily onto its chassis. It dangled dangerously over the water while Danziger frantically held on. The collision with the bridge nearly shook him from the driver's seat, but he clung to the wheel as he watched his GEAR and the other loose items in the cab fall toward the dark water that now threatened beneath him. Danziger swung out his feet in an effort to catch the GEAR, but it was gone before he had a chance. The action almost made him lose his grip on the wheel. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he muttered, as he regained his hold and wedged his feet into the sides of the TransRover's cab. 

"Hold on! Hold on!" Alonzo rushed toward the vehicle, but he stopped before he clambered on. "We don't want to unbalance it," he said to Devon, Julia and Walman. The others were rushing onto the bridge from the opposite side of the river now. 

Devon took charge. "John! Are you okay? Can you hold on?" 

"Yeah, sure. No problem," Danziger said as he got a better grip on the wheel. "I could stay here all day." 

"Get Zero over here! We'll get you out. Just hold on!" 

"Yeah, no problem," Danziger muttered again, and looked out at the black and white rushing water under the bridge. "I got no problem with that." 

It took almost an hour, using Zero and the DuneRail to pull the TransRover the last few feet. Zero would have been able to do the heavy work alone, but the unbalanced TransRover needed the DuneRail pulling from upriver to keep it from falling into the water. Slowly, with the front left wheel dangling over the edge, they pulled the vehicle back to solid ground. Danziger did his best to steer and hold on at the same time. The tension level was high until the massive vehicle finally had all four wheels back on the earth. True was in the disabled vehicle's cab before Danziger had a chance to climb out. 

"Did you see that!" Morgan cried to Bess. "Did you see how it almost fell into that water. Any one of us could fall in just like that!" 

"Nobody fell in, honey," Bess said, and smiled. The DuneRail was headed back across the bridge toward them, and they were already loading the ATV with the dumped supplies. "Anyway," she said, "the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get moving again." 

"I don't know about that," Walman said as he stopped the DuneRail near them. "The 'Rover has had it. Danziger has at least a day's work on it. We'll get this stuff over and then we'll set up camp." 

"Oh great," Morgan mumbled. "So we're stuck here." 

"It's not so bad," Walman said with a smile, "as long as you don't fall in." 

* * * * *

Danziger looked out across the bridge from the cab of the TransRover. Devon, Alonzo, Denner and Julia were unloading the ATV on his side of the river while Walman, Magus and most of the others loaded the DuneRail on the opposite side. Uly and True had just walked to his side of the river with a load of supplies and were running back across the bridge for more. Bess and Morgan were on the bridge too, but headed toward him, each carrying oversized poles that they had been using to support the camp's tarp. They were walking along the left side of the bridge. Bess had found the balance to the poles and was carrying hers effortlessly. Morgan, on the other hand, was dragging his behind him, looking uneasily at the edges of the bridge. Danziger had to smirk at the man. "He's just about useless," the mechanic muttered. 

Uly and True were playing tag as they ran. They were laughing and Uly was It. He reached out to grab True just as they passed Bess. True spun out of his grasp as she ran past Morgan. And then Danziger saw his world compress down to a few seconds and a half-meter of space. True, as she spun, caught her foot on the pole that Morgan was dragging. She cried out, flinging her arms out toward the liaison. Morgan turned in time to see her fall. True seemed to hang in the air for a moment while Morgan looked on panicked and dumfounded. Morgan was statue-still as True fell from the bridge into the dark, turbulent water. 

"True!" Danziger screamed, and he leaped down from his perch and sprinted across the short distance to the river. He glanced down the cliff face, unable to see a path down to the narrow bank below. He scrambled and tumbled downward as quickly as he could. His pant leg caught in a bramble. Danziger tore frantically at the cloth and the branches to free himself. It seemed to take forever. "True!" he screamed when he stood at the river's edge. "True!" 

"Daddy!" Her cry was close. A scrubby dead tree hung just above the racing water, 20 meters downriver. He saw one long arm hanging onto the branch, and a head trying to keep above the waterline. He ran to it. Not one head...two heads. True was frightened, and trembling, and Morgan wasn't much better. "Morgan?" Danziger had not seen him enter the water, yet there he was. Morgan had his right hand firmly attached to the dead branch, his left arm tightly around True, and water up over his chin. Danziger dropped to his hands and knees. "True, grab my hand." She was shaking, but she reached out as best she could, against the water's rush. They were half a meter short of reaching each other. "Martin!" Danziger shouted, "You gotta get her closer." 

Morgan nodded, water rushing across his face. He tried to maneuver the girl closer to her father. "Closer ...almost there. True Girl, come on, you can reach your daddy." Her fingers were several formidable centimeters from his. "Get her closer, Martin!" he barked, and then he tried to speak calmly, "True, come to Daddy." He was not even aware that the others had reached him, that hands where steadying him, keeping him from falling into the water. The only thing he could see was his daughter's hand, just out of reach. Somebody shoved something into his hands, a tarp pole, a miracle. He swung the pole out over the water and into the girl's hands. Once True had a hold on the pole, Danziger pulled her in immediately. He was embracing her, even before Devon, Alonzo, and Julia pulled the two of them from the brink of disaster. She was safe again! 

"Morgan!" Bess yelled, she was on her feet and rushing back up the cliffside. Danziger stood, True in his arms, and looked out over the river. Morgan was gone. 

****

Bess was up the cliff and running to the ATV. Her husband had been pulled away from their side of the river, and back toward the other. Danziger reached her before she climbed into the vehicle. "I'll drive," he said firmly. "You stand in back. You'll be able to see more." He wasn't sure what he saw in her face, whether it was fear or sorrow, or determination, but she climbed up into the back of the ATV as he sat into the driver's seat. He looked up to see True, still trembling, climbing up the riverbank, with the help of Devon and Julia. He waited until her eyes met his. Wordlessly, his expression asked if she was all right and she nodded an affirmative. Danziger started the ATV and they sped off across the bridge, passing the DuneRail. 

"Unload it, now!" Devon said as Matazl pulled the DuneRail up alongside them. She was tearing supply packs off the vehicle before it came to a stop. They had nearly everything off the DuneRail in seconds, then she, Alonzo and Walman jumped in. Julia, who was hurriedly checking True, now moved to the vehicle. "No," Devon said curtly, "You stay here. We're staying on this side of the river. I don't want you with us if Bess and Danziger find him first. You'll stay in the middle." With that, Alonzo sent the DuneRail downriver. 

Julia returned to True, who hadn't stopped shaking. Yale and the others walked to the river's edge. The ATV had crossed the bridge and was well on its way, and the DuneRail was hurrying to catch up on their side. Nobody moved until both vehicles were out of sight. When everything was finally quiet and still, except for the rush of the river, they turned back toward the crippled TransRover and began collecting the supplies that had been strewn around it. 

* * * *

The DuneRail and the ATV were directly across from each other when they saw the great rock, which split the river. "It's an island, I think," Alonzo said, as they approached it. It was a black monolith, the same impenetrable shade as the bridge. 

"I'm not sure," Devon said. She pulled on her GEAR and turned it on. "Bess, can you hear me?" 

"Yes, I'm receiving you." Her voice was higher pitched than usual, her face was a mixture of emotions all trying to be repressed. 

"I'm not sure about this rock. It seems to be dividing the river. We may be separated." 

"Okay, we understand," Bess answered quickly.

"We'll need to make regular contact with each other. Transmit every 15 minutes." 

"Yes, okay." Bess didn't seem to be listening. "Don't forget to check both ... of the river. He could...hurt... on the...of the rock...you might miss.." the transmission cut in and out as the huge rock passed between them. 

"Bess, can you read me?" 

"Can't...you...getting...interfere..." 

Their reception was minimal. The best they could do was to understand only a word or two between them, and then nothing. 

"Well, that blows that idea," Alonzo muttered. He did his best to keep the DuneRail as close to the edge as possible, while Devon and Walman scanned the rocky rapids below. "God, I'm glad that Bess taught him to swim." Alonzo said. 

"It almost makes his smugness about being the 'Second Best Swimmer on G889' bearable," Walman said. For the first time, they had a chance to smile. 

Bess almost had to twist Morgan's arm off to get him to learn how to swim, but once he learned he couldn't stop showing off whenever they camped near a body of water. "Look, I just invented a new stroke! I call it the 'Martin Wonder Stroke'," he would say, managing to splash everyone as he demonstrated his new swimming techniques. "Still," said Walman, "I can't believe he just dove into this river after True. I mean, I never expected that out of him. I don't know if I could do that." 

"I can never quite figure him out," Alonzo said. "I hope we find him soon. It's getting late. There are some pretty big rocks in that water." 

"We'll find him," Devon said. 

* * * *

It soon became obvious that the monolith was not an island in one river, rather it was a wall that divided the main river into two separate forks. Danziger scanned their river carefully as he drove along its edge. He couldn't help thinking that if things had been different, if Morgan had not jumped into that water, they might be searching for his daughter instead. The mechanic couldn't bear that thought. Now, his only hope was that they would be able to find the annoying liaison, who saved his daughter. Danziger had noted that their section of the river was quite narrow, probably considerably narrower than the other fork, and moving even faster now. He didn't like the look of that. He didn't like the sound of it either, because the river started to roar. 

"Slow down," Bess said suddenly. Then she screamed, "Stop!" 

Danziger slammed on the brakes before the ATV ran off the cliff. They both jumped out of the vehicle and looked helplessly at the river they had been following. It had become a waterfall, with a 40-meter drop. Danziger felt ill as he looked down the long decline. This was not good. 

Bess pulled on her GEAR and tried to contact the others. She was unable to reach Devon, so she tried Yale, with slightly better results. She was able to understand only a few of the tutor's words. They had recently heard from Devon, and her group hadn't found Morgan yet. They were still looking. Bess tried to explain what she and Danziger were faced with now, but couldn't get the words out. Instead, she snapped off the GEAR and said, "Come on," before she started to the cliff's edge and began to find a way down. 

"Bess, wait," Danziger said softly, "Bess, I don't think..." he paused. "Look, we took the smaller fork. The chances are that he was pulled down the main part of the river. The current probably was stronger in that direction. Chances are, he didn't come this way. Chances are..." 

"I don't give a damn what the chances are," she growled. "I am going down this cliff and I am going to keep looking for Morgan." 

"Bess," Danziger tried to reason with her. The cliff was terribly steep. It looked doubtful that they would be able to make it down in one piece. If Morgan had been pulled down this route, Danziger seriously doubted that he would have survived. He was about to draw Bess back up to the top when he spotted something in the trees, not far below them. Something alien dangling from a branch. It took him a moment to recognize what was hanging there, out above the falling water. It was his own GEAR, which had fallen from the TransRover during the accident on the bridge. He stared at the GEAR for several moments, not wanted to believe what its presence signified. If the GEAR ended up here, well then... With a heavy heart, Danziger started down the cliff after Bess, toward the lower river. 

* * * * 

The upper river started to widen out, and the sheer sides became a gently sloping bank. And, finally, the pace of the river began to slacken. "I see something!" Devon shouted. She stood up and pointed. "There! Hurry up, Alonzo." The DuneRail sped toward the dark lump at the river's edge. Alonzo brought the vehicle to a stop, a short distance from the object and the three of them spilled out. 

"Morgan," Devon ran the short distance, and bent down beside the man. "Morgan, can you hear me?" The unconscious man was lying on his side, half curled, his legs still in the water. His long hair was matted down to his head. He had an awful welt near his temple and he was very pale, but he was breathing. 

"Come on, Morgan," Alonzo said, kneeling down next to him. "Hey, Morgan. We're here." 

Devon touched his face, it was clammy. His eyes suddenly fluttered open. "Bess?" Morgan said weakly, he made an attempt to cough, but grimaced before he could make anything of it and then closed his eyes again. 

"I think he's in shock. We should elevate his legs." Devon said. 

"You're not supposed to move someone who's been in an accident," Walman said "We shouldn't even touch him." 

"I don't care what either of you think," Alonzo stated. "I'm just getting him out of the water." Devon wavered between their suggestions, but agreed with Alonzo. They carefully lifted Morgan and pulled him a few meters up the bank. He awakened with a gasp, when they lifted him and cried out for Bess again. "Hang on, Morgan," Alonzo said, "we're just trying to help you out here. Hang on." 

They settled him a few meters from the river's edge. They elevated his legs on a rock and carefully covered him with their jackets. He had moaned sharply when they set him down, and when they moved his legs, but once they had finished he had become quiet again. "Keep him awake." Devon said curtly to Alonzo and then turned to Walman, "Get Julia." Walman was in the DuneRail and gone within seconds. Devon attempted to make contact with Julia and the others at the bridge, with poor results. She could not reach Bess at all. Whether or not Julia understood what she had said was debatable. Maybe she would have understood their relief, if nothing else. 

* * * *

Julia had her MedKit packed and ready. When Devon's call came through, she started off on foot in their direction with Magus and Cameron. She had been able to cull only a few words out of the garbled communication, but it was enough to realize that Devon's group had found Morgan. Yale tried to contact Bess, but there was no response on her GEAR. Communication in this area was so poor he couldn't even tell if their GEAR existed. The interference seemed to be coming from the black rock. 

He glanced wearily about at their dwindling numbers. He didn't like it when they were split up into such small groups. Zero was standing guard by the TransRover and Uly was throwing stones into the river. Baines looked through their meager supplies, trying to find something for supper. There wasn't much left of their original food, but they had a decent supply of Cameron's potatoes. They would have to find some more native food soon. Mazatl and Denner were setting up the cooking equipment. 

True sat quietly by herself. Although she had stopped shaking, she still had not had not stopped thinking about her plunge into the cold, quick river. She had learned to swim many months ago, but liked to stay in shallow water. A sense of panic always overtook her if she couldn't feel anything beneath her feet. 

When she fell off the bridge and into the deep water, her first need was to touch bottom. The current pulled and tossed her, her lungs ached for oxygen. She plunged deeper into the water, hoping to make contact with the riverbed, and then, terrified with the realization that she couldn't, she tried to reach the surface. She thrashed and kicked and attempted to escape, but the water stayed closed around her. Suddenly, something grabbed her and pulled her to the surface. She gasped for air as the river crashed around her. The next thing she knew, Morgan was holding her painfully tight and her father was reaching for her. 

"What's wrong True?" Yale said, breaking into her thoughts. 

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't mean for Morgan to get hurt. Why do I keep doing things wrong! It's all my fault. If I wasn't running on the bridge, none of this would have happened. I'm always the one who always screws everything up." 

"Oh, True," Yale started. 

"No, I'm always making things worse for everyone. Maybe I should have just drowned instead and that would make everyone happy." 

Yale grasped her by her narrow shoulders and looked into her eyes, "Don't ever think that. You are so important to all of us." 

"But this is all my fault." 

"We all know you didn't mean to cause any of this. It was an accident. Morgan jumped into the river because he felt it was the right thing to do. It wasn't your fault. We are all so happy that you are alive and well. We'd never wish anything else." The tutor hugged the girl tightly. "And besides, they've found Morgan now." 

"But he's hurt. He must hate me," True cried. 

"You don't risk your life for someone you hate," Yale said confidently. 

* * * *

"Hey Morgan, remember when Walman was trying to get that tent set up and the whole thing collapsed on him. He couldn't get out. He was in there lurching around, trying to find the door, but he was just getting it all tangled up and everything. He was in there shouting and yelling. We were just standing there laughing our asses off. Remember that?" Alonzo squatted beside Morgan and spoke quietly to him. "It musta taken him an hour to get out. I almost bust a gut. And when he finally... hey Morgan, come on, keep your eyes open now. If you keep closing your eyes I'll have to tell you the story again about how I almost didn't make it into flight school." Morgan opened his eyes slowly and gazed blankly, not at Alonzo, but at the sky. "That's good. Now, where was I? That's right, I was talking about the 'tent' incident." Alonzo looked up to Devon who was standing over them. "Why can't we just let him sleep? Look at him. He just needs some rest" 

"I don't know everything about first aid, but I do know that you don't want someone to fall asleep if they have a concussion. I'm pretty sure he has one and I don't want to take any chances. He might never wake up again if he falls asleep." She knelt down beside Alonzo and touched Morgan softly on the forehead. "Stay awake Morgan. Help is on they way." 

Devon wasn't sure if Morgan truly understood what they were saying. His face was too pale and expressionless, and that worried Devon. It seemed to take everything he had to simply open his eyes and come back from whatever depths he was falling into. If they could only keep him awake until Julia arrived, then everything would be fine. If only Julia would arrive. 

* * * *

The journey down the cliff was difficult, but not impossible. Danziger silently retrieved his GEAR when they were near enough, and then they continued on their way. Bess and Danziger did not speak as they traveled. He watched her carefully. Her face remained stony and emotionless as they slowly, painstakingly climbed down the cliffside. Finally, they reached the bottom, near the thundering falls. In other circumstances, they might have considered the falls to be beautiful, but now, they only seemed cruel and terrible. 

Bess took a moment to catch her breath and look out into the falling water. The mixture of white and black water formed mesmerizing shapes in the falls. She watched the lulling dance of the ghostly images, as if trying to draw meaning from them, but could find nothing. She pulled her attention from the water and snapped on her GEAR. She made several attempts to contact the Devon and the others without luck. Danziger looked on, silently noting her tense features. Finally, she reached Yale, and through a distorted message, she understood what he was trying to tell her. 

"Oh, John!" She started weeping uncontrollably. 

Danziger, fearing the worst, tried to comfort her, "Ah Bess," he opened her arms and she fell into his embrace. "I'm so sorry Bess. I'm so sorry." 

"He's okay. They found him. He's alive," she was able to say through her tears. Danziger started to laugh. It was the best news he had heard all day. It was the best news he could have hoped to hear. He was tired, and scratched and scraped from their journey down the cliff, but he felt damn good all of a sudden. It was beginning to get dark now, which meant spending the night somewhere nearby on this rocky unfamiliar riverside. They would have to look for some sort of shelter soon. For now, though, he just wanted to laugh. 

****

It was dark when the DuneRail arrived with Walman, Cameron, Magus and Julia. Walman and Magus set up a lean-to around Morgan from the supplies left on the DuneRail. Devon waited as the doctor examined Morgan and treated him. It was well into the night by the time Julia emerged. "I think he'll be okay," she said finally. "I've treated his concussion and he should be out of danger now. He has a couple of cracked ribs. I've done what I could with that already, and the bone-healer vaccine he received back at the stations should help with that. I'm a little worried about his left knee. His kneecap was pretty much shattered. I've rebuilt it as much as I can. We'll just have to see if it holds. If I had a decent surgery I would be able to do more. He's pretty beat up, but I think he'll be all right. The shock and exposure was the biggest danger, and it looks like he's out of that now. I've given him a sedative to help him sleep through the rest of the night. He should be feeling a lot better by morning." Devon couldn't believe the feeling of relief that swept over her. It seemed to take forever for Walman to return with Julia, and during that time, she and Alonzo had done their best to keep the man awake. Morgan never made any sign that he was aware of their presence, except for the fact that he dutifully opened his eyes every time they asked, cajoled or ordered him to do so. 

Morgan was going to be all right. Still, Devon couldn't feel completely at ease until everyone was together again, until everyone was safe and sound and together. 

* * * *

Bess and Danziger spent the night under the low branches of a thick-needled evergreen. They awoke at sunrise and looked out at the incredible waterfall. It was still powerful and tumultuous, but had lost its terrible threat. Danziger took a few minutes to gather up some familiar sort of berries for breakfast, because they had not eaten since lunch the day before. They ate quickly and started on their way. The ascent was easier than expected, because they were in high spirits. When they paused to rest, Bess quietly said, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost him." She pulled her long beautiful hair away from her eyes. "I don't know if I'd be able to go on." 

Danziger said nothing. He always figured that Bess was the strong one of the two. If worse came to worst, she would be the one that survived. 

Bess continued, "When I lived on Earth, I had nothing. We could barely afford the price of drinking water. I tried to stay clean as best I could, but it wasn't easy. My clothes were old and worn and I must not have smelled very good all the time. Yet here was this man from the space stations, in his beautiful new clean suit and his perfectly groomed hair and freshly shaven face. I saw these types all the time, and every one of them turned their noses up at me as if I wasn't worth stepping on. Yet when this man looked at me, he didn't see a dirty Earth dweller who couldn't afford enough water to keep her clothes clean. He saw *me*. He loved *me*." 

Bess shrugged. "My father always loved me, always called me his "little girl". To my father, I was a little girl. He always took care of me. But to Morgan, I am his night and day. No one has ever treated me that way before. He loves me, just me." She sighed and looked down at the falling water. " You know, Morgan's parents died when he was still pretty young. There were people who took care of him after that, but nobody who cared about him. You know what I mean? He didn't have anyone who cared whether he was warm and safe and dry, whether he was even alive or not. Nobody to worry about him. Nobody to give a damn whether he was happy. Yet, when he met me, all he wanted to do was make ME happy. 

I know that he was married once, before me…" Bess nodded when Danziger looked at her in disbelief. "It was all to better his position. He had it annulled. He didn't love her. He didn't even love the girl he left her for. I guess he couldn't go on that way, without someone to love. He needed someone to love and screwed up that marriage just to get out of it. Then he came to Earth and our eyes met and…" She smiled, a sweet sad smile, "He cares more about my life than he does his own, you know. I would be lost without him." She sighed again, "I miss my husband. I miss him so much." With that, she started climbing again. 

They reached the top of the cliff late in the morning and returned to the ATV. Bess was anxious to keep moving, so Danziger had them turned around and headed back to the others immediately. The trip back to the bridge was quick. Crossing the bridge, Bess hung tightly onto the rails of the ATV, not wanting to look down or remember what had happened there. 

The rest of the group greeted them joyfully, True standing out in front of them all. Danziger was out of the ATV before it stopped. He had True in his arms almost as quickly. 

Bess climbed into the driver's seat of the ATV immediately. "Thanks John, for all your help," she said quickly. "I have to go." 

Danziger smiled, "We'll see you soon," and the ATV sped away. Then he caught sight of the TransRover and remembered. He had a lot of work ahead of himself. 

* * * *

"Morgan..." Bess said softly. He was still asleep under the lean-to. "Morgan, honey." 

His face twitched slightly and then he opened his eyes. "Hey, Bess," he said simply, squinting up at her. He smiled as he looked into her eyes. "Is it morning already?" The others, who were crowded in around them, sighed with relief. 

Julia scanned him with her DiaGlove. "Welcome back, Morgan." 

He looked up at Julia, somewhat startled, and tried to sit up. He was only able to lift himself a few centimeters before he gasped with pain, and fell back. "Ow! That hurts! What happened?" he cried. "What happened to me?" 

"You had a little trouble at the river," Bess said, and kissed him. "But we found you and you're going to be okay now." 

His face clouded with thought, and then a flash of memory came across him, and then an expression of pain. "Oh..." He looked around, slowly at the group. He seemed close to panic. "I want to be alone now. I...I...just want to be alone, okay? Would everyone just go." 

The others were somewhat taken aback. "All right, Morgan," Cameron said as he moved away. 

"Yeah, sure no problem." Alonzo shrugged as he and the rest left until just Julia and Bess were still beside him. 

"Everyone," Morgan said quietly, looking at no one. "I just want everyone to go." 

Bess stood up, startled. "Okay, honey. I understand, you need your rest. I'll be here for you. Right outside." 

As they walked away from the lean-to, Julia said, "He's been through an awful experience. He's not himself yet." 

Bess shrugged sadly. "He seemed so glad to see me at first." She sat down not far from the lean-to and waited. 

* * * *

It was late in the afternoon when Alonzo switched off his GEAR and turned to Devon and Julia, "Danziger said that they should have the TransRover ready by tomorrow morning. They wanted to know if Morgan is doing any better. I didn't know what to tell them." 

Julia shook her head. "He should be getting better. The concussion might have been worse than I thought. He's unresponsive again. It makes no sense. He seemed to be fine when he woke up this morning." Ever since then, Morgan had stopped talking, and now just stared out into space. Bess was sitting with him now, trying to get him to eat. He knew she was there, but didn't seem able to speak to her. She talked quietly to him, being sure not to mention anything about the river. It seemed to agitate him. 

The river was relaxing here. It had given up its fierceness for calm. The water was smooth and slow, soothing to their jangled nerves. Walman and Magus decided to try fishing, and were an instant success. They pulled two large silvery fish out of the water almost as soon as they cast their lines. Cameron started to catalog the plant life that grew nearby. 

Alonzo, after a little exploring, found another outcrop of the black rock on their side of the river. He ran his hand along the too smooth, too flat surface of the stone. It was obvious that someone had sliced through the rock. It was most likely the quarry for the bridge. Alonzo wondered what the Terrians thought about the quarry. 

* * * *

The work on the TransRover was difficult, but Danziger had a well-trained staff. True enjoyed working with her father, and was always eager to please him with her mechanical skills. Denner, during Devon's long illness, had put the time to good use. With Yale's tutoring and Danziger as a mentor, she learned vehicle-electronics, and discovered that she had a certain knack for it. She was now working at rewiring most of the undercarriage. Zero made a perfect wheel-jack for the huge vehicle. With any luck, the TransRover would be ready by morning. Danziger, True and Denner had been at it all day, and would hopefully have the majority of it done by nightfall. 

Baines and Mazatl had taken Uly on a short hike downriver, and were just returning. Uly chatted endlessly while Baines did his best to ignore the child. Mazatl still had the presence of mind to say, "Yes Uly," every few minutes to make the boy think that they were still listening. Denner looked up as the trio approached and laughed at Baines' pained look and at Mazatl's robot-like responses. 

Yale was examining the bridge. He ran his hands along its flawless sides and contemplated its origin. As he bent over the left side, something caught his eye, something he had missed before, some sort of imperfection in the smooth surface. He had to climb down along the side of the bridge, near the rushing water, to get a better view. Once he was close enough he realized that strange letters had been carved there. He ran his hand over the impressions and scanned his database to see if he could match it. He was surprised when he succeeded. He had to sit back on his haunches to think. This was certainly interesting. 

* * * *

"I see them!" Alonzo shouted. "They're coming now." He ran down the riverbank, toward their makeshift camp. The group had been separated for two and a half days now, but it seemed like much longer. It was good to have everyone back together. Bess was sitting with Morgan when the TransRover arrived, and she noticed an obvious change in him. Where he had been almost zombie-like, he suddenly seemed very anxious and afraid. 

The TransRover groaned to a halt and Danziger jumped down from his seat. He headed directly to where Morgan and Bess were seated. Danziger had been waiting for days now to thank Morgan for saving the most important thing in his life, his daughter. Danziger hadn't been able to put his gratitude into words yet, but he knew he would come up with something. Morgan's response to his arrival completely surprised him. 

"I'm sorry!" Morgan said frantically, suddenly fully awake and aware, "I'm sorry Danziger, I...I...didn't do anything...I just stood there... I just...I couldn't move. I just ... I just..." he stammered, "I just couldn't..." He tried to move away from Danziger, but was stopped by the pain. He was obviously terrified of the mechanic at that moment. 

"Morgan," Danziger was startled, "I don't understand. What's wrong?" Bess looked at her husband's sudden animation with concern. 

"I shoulda stopped her. I wanted to grab her, but I just couldn't. I was just...just...just." Morgan stuttered, unable to form a complete thought, as he looked between the two of them. And then True was beside him. "True?" Morgan's panicked behavior stopped as he looked at her in disbelief. "True," he reached out one shaking arm to touch her. "You're alive? I thought that I... I thought that you...." 

Danziger and Bess looked at each other, suddenly understanding. Morgan didn't remember anything past the moment he failed to catch True as she fell from the bridge. His mind had shut out his own actions to save her. He thought that he had allowed her to die. 

True was the one that moved first. "Thank you," she said, embracing Morgan gently. "You saved my life." 

"I did?" Something about him finally relaxed. "I did?" and he just smiled. "I did." 

* * * *

"German," Yale said simply. "The inscription is in Old Earth German." 

Devon frowned. "How old is the inscription?" 

"It was dated around the same time that the space stations were built. The text reads, 'In the name of those that gave their all, we dedicate this bridge. May it stand as long as hope survives.'." 

She frowned. "How did they get here? And where were they going?" 

"The rock was quarried here to build the bridge, so they must have come from this side of the river. I'd say they were headed east, in the opposite direction from us," Yale said. It certainly gave Devon something to think about. They had found other humans living on the planet already, but this was different. If the inscription on the bridge was left by people from Earth, then humans had been on this planet for much longer than they had ever suspected, longer than the penal colonists or anyone else they had found. If there were humans here for so long, then why had there been no other trace of them? Had they died out, or did they stick together and move on? It was possible that her group would run into their descendants in time. But until then, Devon and the rest would have to wait. 

* * * *

(The Voice of John Danziger): "We remained at the river's edge for about two weeks, until Morgan was ready to travel again. During that time we found plenty of time to fish and relax. But, summer was over, and it was time to start moving again, onward toward New Pacifica. We were together again. Morgan was back too, in both body and spirit. He hasn't really remembered anything about the whole incident, but after hearing us tell him about the experience, he can repeat the story so that it sounds like some sort of Greek myth. Well, I guess I can put up with that. I'm not even sure if he really believes it all yet. I kinda think he believes we're making the whole thing up. We made a unanimous decision to name the river after him, including its two forks. Now there's an Upper Morgan, a Lower Morgan, and just plain Morgan River on G889. Morgan has already started referring to the main river as the Mighty Morgan. I don't know how long I can handle that. 

I don't know whether or not we will meet those other humans, if that is what they are. I mean just because somebody writes something in German doesn't necessarily mean they come from Earth, right? Well, I don't know. We'll keep our eyes open for signs of them. They're travelers, just like us. It makes the planet seem friendlier and more like home. As for us, we'll keep moving . . . like a river." 

****

THE END 

* * *

__

Okay, just a note here. This story was inspired by one quick little line in "The Boy who would be Terrian King." Max refers to a place as The Upper Morgan River. Anyway, it got me to thinking, how exactly did that river get its name. So, this is my response to that question.

This is my first attempt at fan-fiction. It was just supposed to be a stand-alone story with now real answer to why the bridge was built. It took me over a year to get off my butt (or rather get on my butt in front of a computer) and write the next story... The Road. Check that one out next.


	3. The Road

__

Okay, here is the Part Three of my saga "The Planet, Our Home." And,Part 2 of of a trilogy within the saga "The River, The Road and the Sky Beyond". It follows the events of my previous stories. Alonzo is the focal character in this story, but as with all of my stories, everyone is included.

This story is based on the TV Series "Earth2." All the characters and such belong to this show and this story is not meant to infringe on anyone's anything. It's just for fun! 

****

THE PLANET - OUR HOME - part 3

The Road

__

Part of "The River, The Road, And the Sky Beyond" Trilogy

* * *

(Voice of Alonzo Solace): "I've been dreaming. Not Terrian dreams, but simple uncomplicated dreams, human dreams. It's been a long time since I've dreamt like this, and I'm not really used to it yet. The dreams kinda startled me at first. They were just these short bursts of color, light and action, but they've been getting longer lately. Julia says that my connection to the DreamPlane jump-started my dreaming ability. It is all such an strange experience for me that I sometimes have trouble separating the dreams from my thoughts. Is there a difference between dreaming and thinking? Mostly I dream about the exact same thing that I'm doing when I'm awake, traveling. In my dreams, we're on the way to New Pacifica. I'm driving or walking or something, and our destination is just out of reach. We're so close now. Yale says that we'll make it before winter sets in again. Anyway, that's what I had been dreaming. But lately, my dreams have changed." 

* * * *

Alonzo dreamed. In his dream he was at home in the cockpit of a tiny spacecraft, flying somewhere in some uncharted section of space. Stars and comforting control panels surrounded him. Everywhere he looked he saw familiar things: switches, lights, keypads, the curve of the view screen, the stark colors. He moved slowly and purposefully, his hands flowing over the panels and keyboards with ease. Everything was silent except for the gentle hum of the engines. Everything was calm and quiet. 

He was awakened with a bang, several bangs. Two voices were shouting. He sat up and for a moment he didn't know where he was. Then, he remembered it all and felt a pang of sadness. The dream of space had been so tempting. 

He climbed off his cot and out of his tent to find Morgan and Baines arguing over a scattering of empty packing containers. "Well, if you would just look where you were going..." Morgan was saying. 

"Why did you put this stuff here? It's in the way. Anyone would've run into it." 

"It's not in the way if you just had your eyes open. And besides, the containers are right here if anyone needs them." 

"You were just too lazy to put them away," Baines muttered, and then looked up and saw Alonzo. "Sorry Lonz," he said, "didn't mean to wake you." 

Alonzo yawned, "I guess I should be getting up anyway. Just because I was up half the night on duty doesn't mean I have to get any sleep." 

"Hey, did you hear something funny last night?" Baines asked somewhat nervously. "Like something howling?" 

"Howling?" Morgan cried. "What? Like a Grendler or something?" 

Alonzo shrugged. "I didn't hear anything." 

"Like what kinda thing howling?" Morgan persisted. "Did it sound like it would kill us in our sleep?" 

"I can tell you one person I wouldn't mind seeing killed in his sleep." Baines' voice was low. 

Alonzo moved away from the tent and from the two men who continued to argue about where packing containers should be stored, what sort of thing was howling in the night, and whom it should eat. The pilot stared out to the west at the vast forest before them. They had left the river over three weeks ago and had crossed a large grassy prairie. The stalks reached to their shoulders, and in places grew taller than Danziger. The blades of grass were about as thick as a finger, and proved to be amazingly flexible and strong. Some of the group had tried twisting ropes and weaving baskets out of the fibers. The results were mixed at best, but with a little more practice they could probably find a decent use for the substance. 

The problem was, nobody cared much for the grass. It was only the latest barrier to be thrown before them. The ATV and DuneRail were forced to follow the TransRover, which plowed down the stalks, creating a makeshift pathway for them. The plants were constantly becoming stuck in the axles of the vehicles, grinding them to a stop. 

The TransRover further impeded their progress. Despite his efforts, Danziger had not been able to completely fix the left front wheel assembly and some of the wiring. They had almost lost the vehicle when they tried to bring it across the black stone bridge. Danziger tinkered with it every night, but he just didn't have the necessary parts to correct the problems. The vehicle still pulled strongly to the left, its brakes hardly worked, and from time to time it just died altogether without any warning. The group would wait until Danziger was able to coax the vehicle back to life, and then maybe hours later they would be on their way again. 

Now, they had finally reached the end of the prairie and faced the forest. It was composed of tall, closely packed trees, and dense, thorny brambles. There was no way of getting the TransRover between the bottle-brush-topped trees, and neither the DuneRail nor ATV would make it through the underbrush. Scouting parties were sent in both directions, along the face of the forest, to look for a place to penetrate the dark wood. Walman and Magus had traveled to the south, Mazatl and Danziger to the north. The scouting parties had left the previous morning and had not yet found any entrance into the dense forest. The long sultry summer was over and they were already into autumn. Yale had pronounced that New Pacifica might be less than 200 klicks away, an easy distance to cover before winter. Of course, that depended on the TransRover's working condition and whether or not they would be able to find a way through the forest. In any case, for the first time, New Pacifica was an attainable goal. 

Alonzo walked up to Devon just as her GEAR signaled an incoming message. She put it on. "I'm here, Danziger." 

Danziger's image appeared before her, "You'll never guess what we've found, Adair." He said laconically. 

"Don't make me guess, Danziger, what do you have?"   
  
"Come on, make a wish." 

"I wish you found a paved road that ran through this entire damn forest," she said sharply. 

He looked shocked. "You got it," he laughed. 

Devon paused, "What do you mean?" 

"I'm telling you, we found a road. It may not be paved, but it's as straight and flat as you could ever want." 

"A road?" 

"I don't know how it got here, but I'll be damned. It's definitely a road." 

Devon snapped off her GEAR and turned to Alonzo. They said nothing, as they turned to the north, and the direction of their latest surprise. 

* * * *

They started out almost immediately to meet up with Danziger and Mazatl, the TransRover protesting the whole way. The vehicle broke down once. The ATV caught up with them, while True and Denner worked to bring the vehicle back to working order. The group was relieved when they finally caught up to the DuneRail, with Danziger and Mazatl standing nearby. The huge vehicle shuddered to a halt at the verge of the road, and Danziger sighed, realizing that his afternoon would consist of fixing the TransRover again. 

Devon stared in disbelief at the straight road that led into the darkness of the woods. It was perfect, flawless. Nothing grew on the road as far back as they could see. Only a few wisps of branches could be seen laying on the bare surface. It was quiet and calm and completely alien to this world. 

"Have you walked on it at all?" Julia came up beside them, suddenly anxious. She was already scanning Danziger and Mazatl. 

"We walked in a few dozen meters. It looks like it runs all the way through," Danziger commented. 

Julia looked dubious. She turned to Cameron. "We should run some tests on some soil samples before anyone else sets foot on this thing. Something is keeping the plant life from growing here. It could be a powerful herbicide." she nodded to Danziger and Mazatl. "I'd wash up if I were you, and change your clothes. We can't be too careful." 

Danziger shook his head. "Whatever you say. Still, I think we've found the answer to our problem here. Like my dad always said, 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'." 

"Well," Devon replied, "mine always said 'Look before you leap'." 

Danziger sighed, "I could trade clichés with you all day Adair, but I say the sooner we get moving down this road, the sooner we'll be reaching New Pacifica." 

Devon had to agree with Danziger. She had been afraid that they might have to build such a path into the wilderness. The process would have taken months. Once again, someone else had beaten them to it. "Who built it?" Devon said to Yale. 

Yale considered the question. "It's hard to say for certain. I don't believe that the Terrians would have created this. It's possible that the Grendlers could have cleared this area. It is also a possibility that the same people who built the bridge, forged this road." 

"The date on the bridge was over a hundred years old," Devon stated. "I can't believe that the road would still be in this shape after such a long time." 

"Someone might be maintaining it," Yale said. "Or maybe it's of a more recent construction. Perhaps the penal colonists created it. We'll just have to wait until we have more clues." 

"The penal colonists?" Morgan cried, pulling Bess close to him. "I don't like the sound of that. Maybe they're still around, huh?" 

Devon shook her head. "We don't know what's going on yet. I suggest we set up camp here while Julia runs some tests." The road, like the bridge, was a stroke of luck. They had let their guard down at the bridge, twice. First, they had almost lost the TransRover, and then Morgan and True were almost lost as well. They would be more careful now. 

* * * *

Alonzo wandered aimlessly around the camp. They had become very quick and efficient at setting up the tents, and had their area ready in no time at all. Bess was supervising their supper preparation, and he could already smell the familiar fish stew cooking. Alonzo walked toward Julia and Cameron who were squatting alongside the road. Cameron stood as he approached and said, "She's all yours," before he headed toward Devon's tent. 

Julia smiled at Alonzo, as he sat down beside her. She set down her scanner. "Hello, Fly-Boy," she said. 

"How's it looking?" he asked quickly. "We're not going to be poisoned or anything from this road, are we?" 

Julia shook her head. "Not that we can tell. The soil has been sterilized, to a depth of 2 meters. Don't ask me how, but it's still sterile." 

Alonzo looked suspiciously at the earth. "Sterile, huh? Anything I should be worried about." 

She smiled again. "Don't worry Romeo. It's not going effect anything but plant life." She ran her hand along his shoulder, and down his chest. "I wouldn't let you anywhere near anything that'd do that to you. It would be such a waste." She kissed him softly. "Cameron's gone to tell Devon the good news. Do you want to take a walk in the woods?" 

Alonzo couldn't help it. Here he was, sitting next to the woman he loved, who was flirting like crazy with him, and all he could think of was space. His mind traveled back to his dreams. He didn't want to be here right now. He wanted the cool darkness of space, and the quiet of the cockpit. At this moment, he could hardly endure sitting here by the side of a road, at the edge of a forest, on a planet called G889. And he felt terrible about it. 

****

Bess watched as Morgan carefully peeled the yellow tubers. He was very slow. Still, she couldn't complain. At least he was helping. And now, it was probably for the best that she had such a perfectionist peeling the roots. Bess had learned some time ago that as long as the task was 'important,' Morgan would do his best to perform it. He peeled the bitter skin so slowly and carefully that he hardly removed any of the meat. They couldn't spare a bite right now. This was their last batch of the tubers. They still had a few fish from the river, carefully stored in the TransRover's larder, but those were running low too. There was nothing left of their original food supplies. Everything they ate now, came from the planet. The grass prairie had not offered them much to eat. From time to time they had spotted high-leaping, gazelle-like animals, but they were far too fast in the tall grass, and the vehicles were too slow to ever catch up to them. Nothing edible grew in the choking grass. 

Magus and Walman were watching the fish grilling on the fire. They were laughing and occasionally flipping the last few fillets. Morgan stopped and set down the knife and the root, and rubbed his knee thoughtfully. 

"Your knee still hurts, honey?" Bess asked. He had recovered from his ordeal at the river, but still claimed to suffer from soreness in his left knee. 

"Yes," Morgan responded glumly, "if we didn't have to walk so far every day I'd be okay." 

"You know, you should ride on the TransRover for a longer part of the day," Bess said helpfully. Julia had prescribed a half-day of exercise and a half-day of rest to help mend the liaison's ruined knee. 

"Yeah," he shrugged. "It's not so bad during the day though. It doesn't always start hurting until later." He paused, looking out toward the woods, still rubbing his knee. 

"Is something else bothering you? What are you thinking about?" 

He started to speak, but stopped, "Nothing," he muttered, "nothing." 

"Everyone!" Devon said as she walked to the center of the camp, disturbing their conversation. "Cameron and Julia have given us the good news. The road is safe to travel on. We'll start early tomorrow and travel as a group. We don't know what's in there and I'd rather we faced it together. Let's get some good rest and start off early." She finished her short speech and called Yale. The two walked to the edge of the forest, onto the road, and then into the dimness of the wood. They followed the road in about 20 meters. The thick brambles that surrounded the road gave way and the forest floor opened up. The trunks were still too densely packed to allow the TransRover or even maybe the DuneRail to travel off the road, but at least a person could walk beneath the trees. There were short, sparse bushes here and there, and a green mossy carpet covered sections of the forest floor. Devon and Yale left the road and walked a short distance into the tall, straight trees. 

"So, what do you think?" Devon asked. 

Yale looked around slowly while Devon waited patiently. "From what I can tell, this forest has not changed for a very long time." He pointed to the forest floor. "Every tree here seems to be approximately the same size in diameter and height. It would appear that the trees grow to a certain size and stop. Also, it would seem that they reach a certain density and then stop reproducing. There is no sign of any young trees starting. I don't even see any sign of disease or decay. You don't see any branches or needles on the ground. There are the remains of fallen trees near the road, but not anywhere else. I'd say these traces were remnants of the road clearing operation. From the extent of decay, I would say that the trees were cut down well over one hundred years ago. With the exception of the road, this forest has not changed in a thousand years." 

They walked a few meters further into the wood and came to a halt. Bones were scattered near the base of a tree. It was a startling discovery in that cool, dim forest. The bones appeared to belong to a deer-like creature. Yale picked up one of the longer bones and examined it. It was shattered, and there were teeth marks along the whole length. The forest suddenly seemed cold and dark as they headed back to the road and the warmth of the others. 

* * * *

As the group traveled into the wilderness, they caught sight of strange, tall animals flitting in and out of the darkness of the woods. Yale compared them to deer in shape, but larger, with small angular heads and short spiked antlers. Their coats were dappled brown and white, making them almost invisible in the shifting dimness that they traveled through. Yale decided that the bones they had found belonged to this type of animal. The group kept a sharp eye open for the creature that might have been capable of killing such a large, fast animal, but there was no sign of it. They also watched for any clue to the creators of the road, but found nothing. The air was pungent with the oily fragrance of the trees, and the atmosphere was cool and comforting, despite the threat of possible carnivores. The children would run out ahead until their parents called them back. Morgan and Bess walked hand in hand. Morgan was more distracted than usual, but Bess looked happy. Julia rode with Alonzo in the DuneRail. She talked quietly about building a home, a little place connected to a simple medical clinic. She wondered out loud if the trees would make good building material. Alonzo remained mostly silent. 

The road was easy to travel upon. And despite the TransRover's fragile condition, they made fairly good time. When the vehicle came to a second unplanned halt, Devon decided to set up camp for the night. Baines, Magus, Mazatl and Walman went on a hunting party, in search of the native deer. Bess, Morgan, Cameron and the children went off in search of edible vegetation. The others stayed in the camp, with Danziger, Denner and Zero working on the TransRover yet again. Danziger would have preferred the help of his daughter as well, but he also thought she might enjoy the beauty of the woods. Well, actually it wasn't his idea to let her off the hook so easily, but Bess had invited her, and all True needed to do was say "Please Daddy, just this once," and she was off. 

Zero was being his usual, over-helpful self, trying to cheer up Danziger without much success. The mechanic threatened to shut Zero down with a monkey wrench when he started sing "Whistle While you Work." The threat quieted the mechanical worker for a while, until of course, Denner took up the chorus and then the singing robot couldn't help himself 

The hunting party returned empty handed. The deer were too swift and the forest too dense to make any headway. The gathering party had been more fortunate. They had found a variety of berries, a few mushrooms and a type of nut that was as big as a closed fist. The nuts turned out to be inedible, but the berries and mushrooms were a nice addition to their meager diet. 

"Morgan made friends with some snakes!" Uly said with a smile. 

"They were some of those little green snakes with the purple stripes," True added. Julia had examined that variety of reptile earlier in the day and found that it was harmless. "They got into his hair when he was sleeping! He musta been sleeping on their nest." 

Morgan looked upset. "I wasn't sleeping, I was just resting my eyes." 

True laughed. "There must have been about six or seven of them. He was jumping around like this." Uly and True both demonstrated for the others how Morgan had leaped around, thrashing at his head, until the two children fell over laughing. That was enough to set the rest of them off. Soon the whole group, with the exception of one, was on the ground, laughing. 

Morgan frowned. "Well, you'd do the same if you had a bunch of snakes in your hair." He brushed his hand through his hair a few times, to rid himself of any stray snakes that may have made their way back onto his head. 

True smiled. "I'm sorry, Morgan. We didn't mean anything." Her attitude toward Morgan had changed considerably during the journey. At first she was a little scared of him, and then contemptuous and finally indifferent. After he had almost lost his life for her at the river, she felt a closeness to him. In a strange way, she almost felt responsible for him. 

He nodded, and still brushed at his head and shoulders. He snorted slightly in disgust. His attitude toward the children, especially True, had changed greatly during their travels. At first he was disdainful toward them, then annoyed and finally detached from them. Since he had tripped True on the bridge and almost killed her, he felt somewhat responsible for her. Even though he hated being teased, he could realize that she meant him no harm by it. "Stupid snakes," he muttered as he walked away from the others, who were coming very close to hyperventilating from all their laughter. 

* * * *

Alonzo disabled the perimeter detectors and walked slowly down the road, away from the light of the camp and into the night. The darkness around him was so complete that it was almost tangible. He looked back at the camp; it formed a small dome of light against the great blackness around them. 

It was late. He should have been asleep by now, but he couldn't return to the dreams just yet. How could he think about space? How could he yearn for it when he had so much here? Julia loved him. She had spoken quite often about a future in New Pacifica. Her dream amounted to a home and children in the new community. How could he tell her that he wanted something very different? Of course, with Julia, there was no alternative. She would never be accepted back by the Council after she had turned her back on them. Her future was here. His was in the stars. 

What could he do in New Pacifica? He was a pilot. He supposed that when the Colony ship arrived, they would need someone to help ferry the new inhabitants to the planet surface, but then what? Perhaps they would need someone to pilot the ship home. How could a pilot fit into the dream of New Pacifica? 

Alonzo tilted his head back and looked up at the stars above him. The moons were new, and the sky was incredibly dark. The trees blotted out the sky on either side, leaving only a narrow swath of stars above him, a road of stars. Roads always lead somewhere. They have a starting point and an end. The Eden Advance party had journeyed a great distance already from the landing site to here, but where would he go and what would he do when their journey reached its end? 

He could almost imagine himself in the cockpit of the Colony ship, headed back to the space stations circling a dead Earth. He could almost see it. 

Of course he knew that there was more to the sky than this narrow road of stars above him. If he were to just step clear of this forest, the whole sky would open up to him, so large it might swallow him up. 

A strange, rasping sound drew him out of his revelry. He spun around, pulling the LumaLite off his belt and flicked it on. There, for just a moment, an image was illuminated and then it was gone. Something, about waist high, covered with bristling short fur, with a high body and a large heavy head glared at him. There was a flash of teeth in its oversized mouth, and then it was gone. Alonzo swept the light back and forth in the darkness, trying to catch sight of the creature again, but he found only the outline of the tall straight trees. 

He had stopped breathing. He took a deep breath and then ran back toward the camp ights. "Walman!" he cried through gritted teeth. 

Walman leaped to his feet as Alonzo ran into camp, dropping the MagPro with a clatter. "What? What is it?" The man fumbled for the weapon, clumsily dropping it once again before he stood up again. "What's going on?" Walman could see the fear in Alonzo's face, and he powered up the MagPro. "What happened?" 

"Something's out there," Alonzo continued to shine the LumaLite into the darkness. He saw nothing but their equipment. "And I didn't like the look of it." 

"Should we wake the others?" 

Alonzo considered this for a moment. "I'll tell Devon and maybe Yale. I think it ran off. I don't see why we everyone should loose their night's sleep."   
  
"What was it, what did you see?" A strange low moan came out of the darkness, a short distance way. It grew faint as the origin seemed to move way from them. 

"I'm not sure," Alonzo said quietly. "But, I sure as hell don't want to see it again." 

* * * *

Devon agreed with Alonzo and decided to increase the night-watch but not wake the others. The perimeter detectors were re-enabled and Alonzo joined Walman for the first shift. He had described the creature to Yale who found a similar creature in his databanks. "It may be a form of canine. Perhaps a hyena or a wild dog would be the closest match on Earth, although your creature sounds quite a bit larger. They were scavengers and opportunists, but they also were hunters, pack hunters. We should be careful." 

The night passed without incident. From time to time they heard the sound of howling in the distance, it was a strange discordant sound, that changed its pitch constantly, a mournful, almost human wail that kept the guards on edge. 

The group traveled almost 10 klicks the next day, their best distance in weeks. The going was easy, and despite the fear of Alonzo's creature, the travelers were light hearted. Bess walked with the children, singing songs that she remembered from her childhood. 

The TransRover gave them no trouble until a herd of deer suddenly bolted across the road and Baines slammed on the brakes, killing the temperamental engine. Magus, carrying a MagPro, was able to get off a shot at one of the animals as they fled into the forest, and brought it down. The other deer, terrified, disappeared into the dappled darkness of the wood before another shot could be fired. Everyone stared after them for a few moments, unmoving. The incident lasted perhaps five seconds, no longer. 

Although, it was still early, they decided to set up camp. The fish stew that Bess had prepared two days before, had run out during their afternoon meal. Now, they would have venison. Magus, Walman and Mazatl took on the task of cleaning and preparing the meat while the others went about their usual camp duties. It didn't take long before the majority of the meat was stored and the rest was grilling over an open fire. Uly and True explored the area, and quickly found something along the roadside. 

"Look Mom," Uly said, squatting by a smooth-surfaced black stone, as big as a breadbox. "Look what I found." 

Devon and Yale looked in disbelief at the discovery. "It's German isn't?" Devon asked. 

"Yes," the cyborg responded, "And it would appear that it is the same stone used in the construction of the bridge. We haven't seen this type of mineral since then." Yale knelt down beside the black stone and ran his hand along the carefully carved letters. "There are three names. Bettina Oberman, Eric Ruch and Maria Ruch. And here it says 'Their Spirits Endure'. It is dated one year after the date on the bridge." 

"A gravestone?" Devon looked sadly at the small stone. Almost two hundred years had passed since the other party of humans had passed this way, still, she couldn't help feeling the loss of these three travelers. Devon knelt down beside Yale and touched the cold black stone. "We thought that they were headed east when they crossed the river because the quarry was on the western side of the river. Now, it looks as if they were headed west instead." She shook her head, "I don't know. I still feel that they were traveling east. Maybe they changed their minds and came back." 

"We must have been wrong about the bridge and the quarry. This is evidence that they were traveling westward, like us." 

"I don't know. I just can't shake this feeling. I think they turned back." 

****

The group sat around the fire, at ease and tired from another day on the journey. Night had not yet descended, but the sky was beginning to grow dark. Magus and Walman were sitting close to each other. Bess and Denner talked quietly, eyeing the couple and giggling discretely. Baines, Cameron and Mazatl poked from time to time at the cooking meat. True brought a small packing crate over to Morgan so that he could prop up his sore leg. He was embarrassed at the attention and looked around sheepishly to see if anyone had noticed, but everyone seemed otherwise occupied. 

Julia sat beside Alonzo and stared into the fire. She put her hands into the pockets of his jacket and rested her head on his shoulder. "This is nice," she whispered. "Couldn't you just stay here forever?" 

Alonzo was quiet. How could he stay? A pilot belongs in the stars. Ever since he was a child, it was the only thing he wanted to be. Every step he took in his education was aimed to that goal. How could he be anything else? They were so close now to the end of their journey, so close to the arrival of the Colony ship and his return to the stars.

Suddenly they heard the strange rasping growl. They all spun around to face the creature that Alonzo had seen the previous night. In this half-light, the dog-like creature looked even more fearsome, like something out of a nightmare. It's short, bristling fur was mottled brown and black, looking as if it were scorched by fire. Its teeth were just as sharp and awful as Alonzo had described to them. Its body was long and cat-like, but its paws displayed thick non-retractable claws, more like a dog. Magus, who was closest to the creature, stumbled to her feet as she tried to back away from the growling thing. But there was nowhere to go. More of the animals, with heads lowered and snarling, were appearing from out of the dimness of the wood. Altogether, about a dozen of these animals surrounded them. 

Danziger grabbed True and pulled her to him just as Devon reached Uly and did the same. Morgan and Bess were in each other's arms as the others looked about wildly for something, anything that could act as a weapon. "Dammit!" Walman glared at Baines, "What happened to the perimeter detectors?" Baines said nothing as Walman grabbed one of the flaming logs and flung it at a dog. It yipped as it quickly moved out of the way of the projectile. Baines pulled out one of the poles that supported the grilling meat and swung it at the closest animal. The meat fell into the fire with an angry hiss, making the growling creatures jump back in surprise. 

"The meat!" Yale said quickly, and pushed the partially cooked venison out of the fire. He flung the largest piece as far as he could away from the group. The wild dogs shied away for a moment, and then realizing what it was, half of them broke off after the meat. The remaining six still hovered nearby as the others fought over the free meal. Yale threw the other two pieces of meat after the first; some of the remaining creatures went after it, as some of the others returned. There were always some on guard.

Devon looked around. "We need a weapon." The MagPros and guns were still sitting beside the TransRover, a good 20 meters away. An obvious breach in their security processes. There was no way that any of them would make it to the weapons in time, even if the animals were distracted with the meat. 

"Somebody, do something!" Morgan whined, looking at dogs who circled closer and closer, snapping at them. 

"Zero!" Devon shouted. 

The robot, who had been standing near one of the tents responded, "How can I be of assistance?" 

"Bring me the MagPro!" Devon shouted.   
  
"Yes, ma'am. I will do that in a jiffy." Zero said. But, the moment he started to move, the animals were upon him. Zero tried to side step their advance, but they caught him off balance. Within seconds, the robot was knocked off his feet and flung to the ground by three of the powerful carnivores. 

"Zero!" Danziger shouted, "Zero! Are you all right!" 

"Yes sir, I am functioning. There are animals of an unknown variety trying to damage me." Zero said. Danziger wasn't sure if he didn't hear a note of panic in the mechanized voice. The creature's growling reached a frantic pitch as they attempted to tear into his metal skin. They stopped and with a disgruntled yelp, they left the robot. "Assistance!" Zero cried, "I am unable to regain mobility! Assistance!" 

"Hang tight, Zero. We'll take care of you as soon as we can," Danziger said, feeling somewhat foolish about trying to comfort the robot when their lives were in danger. Baines, Magus and Mazatl all had found poles from the cooking rack and were swinging them about at the approaching wild dogs. They were brazen creatures, leaping as close as they could while neatly avoiding the swinging poles. They had made quick work of the venison and were busily trying to find something else to eat. 

Then suddenly, they stopped. The animals all tilted their heads, listening, and then their high tails dropped between their legs and they moaned mournfully. For a few moments, nobody moved. 

Out of the forest, not far from where the Eden Advance Party was trapped around the fire, two Grendlers emerged, one was carrying an electronic lantern in front of him. The dogs slunk away from the newcomers, whining and crying as they went, looking over their shoulders at the Grendlers. The fight had completely left the fierce creatures and in a moment, they were gone, disappearing into the darkening wood as quickly as they had arrived. Devon and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned to the visitors. 

One of the Grendlers held out the lantern, which glowed softly, holding it out as if to give it to them. The other, bowed, pointing from the lantern to the group. "They want us to have it," True said quickly. 

Devon stepped forward cautiously. The Grendlers seemed friendly enough, and anything that would drive way the wild animals was welcome. She didn't even mind their overpowering smell for a change. She carefully took the small lantern from the Grendler, who shied away the moment the device left his grip. The lantern was battered and very old, approximately 15 centimeters tall and 10 centimeters in diameter, with a metal base and cap, and rippled glass sides that emitted a soft blue glow. The letters "MTR" were stamped on top. Julia stood next to Devon and scanned it. "It's emitting a very high frequency sound-wave. That must have been what frightened those creatures away." She smiled. "They must not like the sound of that very much." 

The Grendlers shuffled over to the black stone memorial and touched it softly. They bowed again and gestured strangely. Their faces seemed sad. They pointed from themselves, to the memorial, and then from the lantern, to Devon and the others. 

True approached them slowly. "I think they're sorry about something. I think, they're sorry about what happened to those people. I think they're trying to make up for it somehow." She looked at her father for support. 

"Julia, how old do you think these Grendlers are? Do you think they remember the people who left this memorial?" Devon asked quickly. 

"They couldn't have lived that long. Maybe these Grendlers are the descendants of the ones that knew what happened here. If only we could communicate with them…" 

The two Grendlers backed away from the group, out of the soft glow of the lantern, away from the gentle light of the fire and into the darkness of the woods, leaving the group mystified. 

* * * *

The strange dogs did not return that night, apparently the sound from the lantern was enough to keep them away. The group woke from a sleepless night and began another day. 

Julia examined the lantern, but found no markings beyond the MTR on the cap. It was highly possible that it had belonged to the same people that had built the bridge and had left the memorial. There was speculation on how the Grendlers had come to possess the device, but there were no sure explanations. It would be yet another mystery of this part of G889, which they had started calling the German Lands. Julia adapted their GEAR to emit the same high frequency, so that they could leave the lantern when they left the forest, but still be able to protect themselves from future attacks of the native dogs. The Grendlers had taken good care of the lantern for a very long time. Undoubtedly, they had used it to protect themselves from the creatures. It seemed only fair to return it to them. 

The group started out early, collapsing the camp with a skill that came from frequent use. As they traveled, Alonzo drifted toward the back of the group, thinking deeply about his future. Yale predicted that they would make it out of the forest before nightfall and that New Pacifica might be only a few weeks away. Their road was drawing to a close and Alonzo was no closer to knowing what he would do when he reached that end. How could he explain to any of them that he was a pilot and that meant that he would have to leave? 

He eventually fell into step with Morgan, who was also at the tail end of the group. Alonzo became aware that Morgan was walking with his eyes shut, talking to himself, "Complete Form 121692.333, signed by Requester, Section Supervision for which request is sought, Section Supervisor from current section, all Dependents and initialed by Level 5. Initial Section C, D-1 and L. Copies sent to Requester, both Section Supervisors, Station Manager, C.A.B. Administrator, Secretary of Assessments, Secretary of Personnel Management for approval. Archive at location number 964@992.201. No wait, it's .935.201. Okay, once response received from all recipients, complete Form 121970.333 with Section B omitted. No, wait a minute, first you'll need Addendum 9112.345. No, no, Addendum 9112.345 comes before Form 121692.333." He frowned and opened his eyes and saw that Alonzo was looking at him strangely. 

"What are you doing?" the pilot asked. 

The bureaucrat looked embarrassed. "I was just trying to remember." 

"What? It sounded like you were mumbling about a bunch of forms?" 

"A bunch of forms? Yes, a bunch of forms." He sighed, "I used to remember everything. I mean, you could say that you were planning to have the color scheme of your living quarters changed and I would say 'you better have your 6549.221 signed by your Section Manager and have your 12644.292/B2 already filled out'. No, no, that's wrong. It's the /C2. No, I was right the first time, it is the /B2." 

"Morgan, what difference does it make?" 

Morgan sighed, "It makes all the difference. It's what I know. It's what I do. I used to know it all. But now..." he shook his head sadly, "It's gone. I've been trying to remember the proper sequence of forms for Change of Address. I've been trying for three days but I just can't remember for sure. The numbers are all flowing together and I can't remember for certain which form is the right one and which one is wrong. I don't even know if I have the form numbers right." He was obviously very upset. 

"Morgan, we won't be needing any of those forms for a while. If we're lucky, we won't need them at all in New Pacifica." 

Morgan looked frighten, "No, don't say that. It's all I know. A guy like you can do anything, but what will I do if nobody needs me? I, I promised Bess that I would always take care of her. What will I do if I can't afford to do that? What will happen to her?" 

Alonzo laughed. Morgan could be so ridiculous. Why was he worried about something so trivial? Who cared if there wasn't any forms for a form-pusher to push? And then it dawned on him. Who cared if there was nothing for a pilot to pilot? It was simple. "I don't think there'll be a problem finding something to do in New Pacifica. You can run a comm-system like nobody's business. We're going to need skills like that, not someone sitting in an office pushing forms around. We won't need that any more than we'll need a pilot." 

Morgan looked at Alonzo, questioningly. "What do you mean by that?" 

"You simply stop being a form shuffler and become something we can use. I'll stop being a pilot and become, well...I'll become something we can use. What I mean is, you and me, we have the same problem. Back in the old days, we had it plush. But those days are gone. We have to face that fact. If we want to stay here and live on this planet we'll have to change and adapt to it. Hell, I think we've done a pretty good job of that so far." Morgan nodded slightly, so Alonzo went on, "We'll be fine. We both have women who love us, don't we. We've got one heck of a challenge ahead of us, building a city out of nothing. Who knows, we might even be good at it." 

"Yeah," Morgan said, not exactly sure of himself, but hopeful, "we could do it." 

"Hey! Boys!" Bess shouted. She was standing next to Julia. The rest of the group had moved some distance up the road. "Are you guys planning on joining us?" 

"We'll be right there!" Alonzo shouted back. He and Morgan ran to catch up with Bess and Julia, and the four of them hurried to catch up with the rest. 

* * * *

(Voice of Alonzo Solace): Yale was right, the road came to an end and we left the forest before the end of the day. I used to think of our journey as if it were a road, with a starting point and an ending point. We started at the landing site and some day we'll reach New Pacifica, the end. But now I'm thinking that it's not really like that at all. Our journey started long before we landed here, long before we even left the station. And even after we reach New Pacifica our journey won't be over. This is a journey that never ends. 

****

THE END 

* * *

[Drop me a note, let me know what you think!][1]

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Okay, so I didn't answer the question about where the bridge came from, and now I have only added more puzzles. I guess that means you will have to go on to "And The Sky Beyond". Leave comments, etc. I'd love to hear from you

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	4. And the Sky Beyond

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Okay, here is the Part Four of my saga "The Planet, Our Home." And,Part 3 of of a trilogy within the saga "The River, The Road and the Sky Beyond" (I know, it's confusing - I am a confused person). It follows the events of my previous stories. The story focuses mainly on Uly, but the others are present and accounted for.

This story is based on the TV Show, Earth2 and is in no way meant to infringe on anyone or anything. I mean it. What would I gain from infringing anyway? Think about it. The characters and their stuff belong to that show. I just made of some of it. But that hardly matters..

****

THE PLANET - OUR HOME - part 4

And the Sky Beyond

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Part of "The River, The Road, And the Sky Beyond" Trilogy

* * *

(The voice of Devon Adair): "Sometimes it's difficult to remain hopeful. When everything around you is dark and miserable, it's hard to hold your head up and keep your spirits high. It's even harder to raise the spirits of those who have entrusted themselves to you. We are deep into autumn now. The cloud cover is so thick that we haven't been able to see the sky for over a week. It hasn't stopped raining. Everyone is so tired and unhappy. It's all I can do to keep everyone moving. If we can just escape from this weather, we'll be okay. And maybe the rain will stop tomorrow." 

* * * *

It was raining. It had been raining for ten days now. The weary, waterlogged Eden Advance party trudged through the soggy field, under the low-hung gray clouds. Morgan sniffled and hugged Bess closer to him. Cameron accidentally stepped into a deep puddle, splashing Baines. Baines only looked up momentarily, seemingly unaffected by the drenching, but he was the next one to hit a puddle and then Cameron was equally soaked. Walman and Magus drifted towards the back of the group, carrying a tattered poncho over their heads. The children huddled under the tarp of the TransRover, looking silently out into the grayness. Julia sat at the back of the vehicle, her legs hanging out, her face still and uncaring. Mazatl, Denner and Yale rode in the DuneRail as Zero, or at least his head, piloted the vehicle without his usual commentary. The ATV bogged down again and everyone paused and looked at it, waiting for Alonzo to rock the small vehicle out of the mire, hoping that they would not be called in to push it again. The pilot succeeded and their slow progress continued. 

Devon impatiently drummed her fingers on the dash of the TransRover and looked over at Danziger. He was covered from head to toe in a thick layer of dark brown mud. Of course, they all were stricken with the mud to varying degrees, but Danziger was carrying enough soil on him to consider growing crops. They were all wet and miserable and it didn't look as if the rain would be stopping any time soon. Visibility stretched only a few dozen meters. The ATV and the DuneRail, just ahead of them made this even worse. Both of the smaller vehicles kicked up a wall of moisture and muck that was now steadily building up on the TransRover. 

The TransRover was faring worse and worse. No matter how hard Danziger tried to keep the vehicle in running order, it continually balked and died. The damage done over almost two months ago, when it almost slid off the black stone bridge and into the Morgan River, seemed to be growing worse by the day. The moisture didn't help matters. The vehicle had died four times so far today. The group would stop and crouch under makeshift canopies until the mechanic was able to dry off whatever cable had shorted out. By that time, all the vehicles would have sunken into the marshy soil and would require help to get out. 

Once again, food was running low. They had been able to find some game in the woods, but had seen nothing since they had entered the rainy valley. The edible vegetation was scarce at best. So, besides being cold, wet, dirty and tired, they were also hungry. They had known hunger before. In their travels they had survived drought and famine, severe heat and biting cold, but this relentless dampness seemed to top everything. Devon was afraid that if they did not make it out of this constant rain soon, there would be no hope for them. 

Bess could hardly see from under Morgan's arm. He had his coat wrapped around both of them, and her head was pressed against his chest. From a small space she looked out at the gray wet world. Something caught her eye, something unexpected. She pressed against Morgan, redirecting his progress and aiming him toward what she had seen. He complied easily, seemingly unaware that she had changed their course. He was too dispirited to care. 

They came to a stop by a gnarled tree, so full of branches that it was nearly choking itself. Bess had to force her way out of Morgan's grip so that she could reach out and pull off one of the red fruit that was growing on the tree. She turned it over slowly. The fruit fit nicely in the palm of her hand. She stuffed it into her pocket and reached for another. Morgan watched impassively as she emptied the tree of its fruit. They had found too much poisonous vegetation recently to become excited about any new findings. Once she filled her pockets, she filled husband's, then she stepped back under his coat and under his arm and the two of them started back toward the caravan. 

When they caught up with the TransRover, Uly leaned out. "What did you find?" he asked. Bess pulled one of the red fruit out her pocket and showed it to the boy. He smiled. "A is for apple," he said simply. Everyone who had ever seen an ABC Book knew that A stood for apple. It had been 200 years since the last apple trees failed on earth, and yet Uly was still able to correctly identify an apple when he saw one. 

* * * *

When the TransRover died for the fifth time, Devon decided to call it a day. The travelers did not even notice that the rain was stopping. They were all so sodden and miserable, that it made little difference. 

"Look," Baines jabbed Cameron as Alonzo stood up on the ATV. The pilot had remained amazingly clean. He was flecked with mud, thrown up from the front tires of the small vehicle, and wet of course, but compared to the rest, he looked pristine. 

Alonzo smiled down at them. "Let's get moving. Maybe we can get the tents set up before the rain starts again. We wouldn't want to get any wetter now would we?" With that he stepped down from the ATV, his feet flew out from under him and he landed on his butt in the thick dark mud. 

Magus, Cameron, Baines and the Martins clapped as Alonzo struggled to his feet. He stepped forward and started to make a comment when his feet flew out from under him again and he took a face dive. 

Baines shook his head. "Lonz, that's not how you visit the Terrians." 

Danziger walked up to the group, and helped Alonzo to his feet. The mechanic smiled at the miserable pilot. "Welcome to the club," he said. 

The group shuffled off to put up the damp tents on the rain soaked earth. Nobody wanted to sit around and talk. Everyone disappeared into their tents, to set up the heaters and start drying out their clothing. 

Devon went to the MedTent where Julia and Cameron studied the fruit. "It's an apple. There is no doubt about it," Cameron said. "The genetic coding shows a slight mutation and that's probably an adaptation after many generations to better suit this new environment." 

"How many generations do you think?" Devon asked 

Cameron shrugged, "It's hard to figure for certain, but I'd say there's somewhere around 20 generations of apple trees between this one and the tree that grew on earth. I can tell this much. It is definitely edible." 

Julia turned one of the fruit over in her hand and looked up at the others. "Well, let's give it a try," and she bit into it, remembering the sensation of biting into her first piece of Grendler Fruit

Devon raised an eyebrow. "Well?" she asked. 

Julia handed two more apples from the pile to Devon and Cameron. "It would be a crime not to share." 

* * * *

"I'm tired of being wet," Morgan whined as he struggled out of his soaked pants. "I'm tired of being tired and dirty." 

"I know honey," Bess said quietly from their bed, "we all are." 

He arranged his muddy pants near the tiny heater and then peeled off one of his socks. "If I could just have dry socks, dry socks that stayed dry all day, I'd be happy." The small heaters were a new addition to their creature comforts. Actually, they were only a conglomeration of old broken pieces of electronics, the brainchild of Danziger. Everyone's heater was a little different, and each worked to varying degrees. "Dry socks, that's all I'm asking for." 

"I know honey." 

"I hate it when my feet are wet." He hopped on is right foot to remove the left sock. 

"I know." 

Morgan carefully placed his socks so that they would receive ample heat. "The mat is soaking wet too. The blankets are wet. The air is just so full of...full of 'wet' that nothing will ever really dry out here. And all this cold and wet makes my knee ache. It was getting better, but now it's just too wet and cold." 

"I'll heat you up," Bess said seductively. She motioned Morgan to her. 

Morgan smiled and abandoned the arranging of his clothing. He was about to climb under the sheets when he slapped himself. "Ouch!" He swatted at a dive-bombing insect. "Hey!" He beat his arms about at the invading buzzing bugs. 

"Quick!" Bess cried as she fended off a biting attack, "Get under the blankets." Morgan dove in after her and Bess worked to tuck the blankets around them. She giggled at the thought of them trapped so close together under the sheets. "You're safe now," she said. 

"I certainly hope not," Morgan said with a grin. 

* * * *

The insects were everywhere. Devon carefully fixed Uly's bed. She was arranging an extra sheet to form a tent over his head, in order to keep away the insects. "Mom, is it going to rain tomorrow." 

"I hope so," Devon muttered, smashing another of the insects. 

Uly looked surprised. "Why? It finally stopped." 

"Yes Uly, and after it stopped raining we started getting these insects. If it starts raining again, maybe they'll go away. Don't scratch." 

Uly pulled his hand away from his chin. "I don't know Mom. Maybe the bugs aren't so bad." 

Devon swatted and swung at the insects as she finished fixing the sheet around the boy. "Hope for rain, Uly. And now go to sleep." 

The boy snuggled down into the not entirely dry blankets and fell to sleep. And then, almost immediately, he was standing in the middle of several buildings, built with light colored wood. The sky was a bright white. Uly knew where he was, even though he didn't recognize the buildings. He was in the DreamPlane, and for a change, the DreamPlane seemed amazingly stable. He looked about to see three Terrians standing silently near one of the wooden structures. He started towards them, trilling, when he heard a voice. 

"Eric?" A woman, dressed in pale clothing, walked toward him. She was older than his mother, with hair so blonde it was almost white. "Eric?" Her face was full of expectation, but once she saw that he wasn't the person she was looking for, her expression changed to surprise. "Who are you?" Her voice sounded strange to Uly, it was almost as if she was speaking another language, but he was able to understand her perfectly. 

"My name's Ulysses Adair. Who are you?" he said brightly. He was excited to find this newcomer in the DreamPlane. 

"Ulysses . . . the Odyssey. My name is Anna Gerting. Where did you come from Ulysses?" 

"You can call me Uly." He smiled at her. "We came from..." he paused, not knowing what to say at first. "We came from Earth's space stations. We've been traveling an awful long time to get to New Pacifica. Do you know where New Pacifica is? Are you one of the colonists?" 

"Space stations? So they built them. I can't believe it. They actually did it." She shook her head slowly. "They did it much faster than I thought they would. How long have you been living in the space stations, Uly?" 

The boy shrugged. "All my life. That's why we came here. I used to have the Syndrome, but the Terrians cured me." He pointed to the Terrians that were standing nearby, silent and almost forgotten in the DreamPlane. "I'm part Terrian now." 

"You've lived on the space stations for all of your life?" She looked stunned. "Have people been living there for a long time." 

"Oh yeah, for over a hundred years." He thought it was an odd question.

Anna turned pale. "Tell me, what is the Syndrome?" 

Uly looked at her quizzically, "Aren't you from the stations?" 

"No Uly, I'm not from the stations." She squatted down beside him. "Tell me about the Syndrome." 

"They say that living in the space stations was killing me and lots of other kids like me. They said that stations made us weak and sick and a lot of kids were dying from it. Some people figured that the only way to save kids like me was to take us off the stations and to find a planet that we could live on. We couldn't live on Earth anymore, so my mom started Eden Project. They found this planet and they found out that people could live on it, so we came here. We're the advance party. My mom's the leader. There's hundreds of others coming soon. We have to get to New Pacifica before they get here." 

"I knew it." Anna stood up and walked away. "I knew it." She turned back toward Uly. "I'm sorry Uly. I'm sorry that you were sick, but I told them. I told them it would happen. That's why WE came here. Everyone was talking about rushing into space to build these floating stations to support all of humanity, but I told them...I told them." Her words were coming quickly and she was obviously becoming angry. "I told them it would mean the end of humanity. People couldn't live like that, not for long. We, my family, my company, financed the New Earth Explorers. We would find a new world to live on, one where we could truly live like human beings. We found it...we found it here." She paced quickly back and forth, "If only...oh, if only." She paused and looked at the boy. "I have made many mistakes. There's so much I regret. Do you know what regret is?" 

"I think so." Uly had backed away from the woman slightly, because he was a little afraid of her at that moment. 

"I regret that we didn't stay together." Her voice had become slow and sad. "I regret that I failed them. I regret so many things." 

Uly woke up suddenly, under the heavy cold blankets, listening to the sound of rain. 

* * * *

The eleventh day in the rain started the same as the other ten, the same as most of their days. They packed up the camp and started rolling. They were wet, tired, perhaps a bit more sluggish than usual, but that was to be expected with the dreariness of the constant bad weather. The group spotted more apple trees and later a few pear trees. Cameron was able to retrieve several saplings. They could plant this species in New Pacifica, along with the samples taken from Mary's Garden, and it would have a much better chance of surviving than any starts they brought from the stations. They collected all the fruit that they could find, and dined on apples and pears during their afternoon stop. During this pause, Mazatl spotted something growing under one of the trees. Cameron's analysis was quick. "Snap peas." Cameron said, gathering samples of this plant as well, "My grandmother used to grow these when she was a kid," Cameron said to anyone who would listen. "She had a little garden box that she kept under a grow light. She'd paint pictures of the stuff that grew there. I think my mom still has some of her paintings." He smiled thoughtfully as he fingered the green vegetables. His grandmother's paintings had shown scrawny, yellowish bushes. The plant that Mazatl had discovered was thick and a healthy dark green. 

Devon debated whether or not they should remain at this spot, and take the time to carefully search the area for other vegetation, but she finally decided that it would be best for the group to continue moving. The rain was falling steadily without any sign of another let up. Everyone seemed so lethargic and spiritless. She decided that the only cure for that was to get them out of the endless rain. It was quite possible that with one more day of traveling they could move outside of this weather and have a chance to dry out. Once they had the chance to warm up and see the sky again, she could send research parties back into the gray rain in search of fruit and vegetables. 

As they traveled through the day, the group kept a lookout for new plant life. It was a strange treasure hunt in the rain. Cameron found a huge cucumber vine, laden with vegetables. Magus and Walman discovered squash and string beans, and Baines found a scrubby little corn stalk. But by mid-day, nobody was in the mood for searching out new vegetation. They drifted through the grayness in a haze. Morgan carefully held Bess has they walked, as had been his practice in this rain, but she seemed to lean against him more than usual. 

"What's that?" Devon pointed at a large shape looming before them in the mist. Her joints ached and her head felt tight and hot. 

"Dunno," Danziger said. The mechanic squinted against the headache that had been building for some time. "We'll find out pretty soon." He swallowed with difficulty. He thought he might be catching a cold. 

The shape gained definition, and the group found themselves at the base of a gray stone structure. On the other side of this building, they found the stone foundations from several other buildings and the wood debris of whatever structure had been built upon them. The stone building was solid, with neither door nor windows. Although, Devon usually would have been extremely interested in such a structure, all she wanted to do at that moment was to crawl into her bed and sleep. Nobody else seemed to care much either. They scanned the structure but found nothing of interest. 

They had just finished their survey when Julia approached Devon and Danziger through the rain, and started running her DiaGlove over them. "You feeling it too?" Julia asked them. 

"Head hurts. Joints hurt, yeah," Danziger said and Devon nodded in agreement. 

"Ringing in your ears? Dry throat?" Julia asked 

"Yeah, that too. What is it?" Devon looked at Danziger in surprise. She didn't know that he was feeling that badly too. 

"I don't know for sure. Almost everyone seems to be suffering from it though." She touched Danziger's face. "Have you been scratching this?" 

Danziger fingered the bump that the biting insect had left. "Yeah, I guess. It itches like crazy." 

Devon exposed her arm to show several large red welts from the insect bites from the night before. "Is this the cause? I thought I was just tired and depressed. I didn't think of mentioning it to anyone." Devon sighed. 

"Others are complaining too?" Danziger said. "I bet Morgan was the first." 

"Actually," Julia said, "He's the only one who doesn't seem to be suffering." 

Devon looked puzzled. "Does he have any bites?" she asked. 

"That's just it. He has as many bites as anyone. Yet, he's his regular old Morgany self." 

"In other words, it's hard to tell if he's complaining more than usual," Danziger muttered. There was no maliciousness in his words. He had long ago given up his dislike the government liaison, but old habits died hard. Morgan was still an easy target. 

"If it's not the bites, does it have anything to do with these structures, or something in the air here. Maybe it's the food that we've found?" Devon said quickly. 

"Not that I can tell. The fruit and the vegetables checked out perfectly. There's nothing wrong with them. I can't find anything wrong with this place either. Nothing worth worrying about in the air, nothing in the soil. I'm going to have to say that it has something to do with those bug bites. In any case, Morgan is somehow immune to it. I say that we should set up camp now and I'll set to work and trying to figure this out." 

"Dad! Devon!" True screamed. She ran a few steps towards the adults and stopped. "Something's wrong with Uly." 

The four of them ran back to the TransRover where True and Uly had been riding. "We were talking and he said that his head hurt. Mine does too, but then, just then..." they arrived at the TransRover and discovered the still form of the boy. "He just fell over and he wouldn't wake up." 

Devon pulled her boy from the TransRover and Julia was already scanning him. The welts left by the insect bites were fully visible on the boy's neck and head. "What's wrong? What's happening?" 

"I don't know," Julia said. "I just don't know." 

****

"Hello Uly." Anna walked toward the boy again. They were standing in the DreamPlane near the large stone structure that the Eden Advance Party had discovered. Now, instead of just stone platforms, there were two rows of simple wooden houses. Uly recognized that this was the place where they had met before. The three silent Terrians still stood near one of the buildings, they turned to Uly and trilled softly as he approached Anna. Anna smiled. "I'm glad you came back. Did you tell your mother about our visit?" 

"No, I didn't have time to talk to her today. I haven't been feeling too good," Uly said. 

"I'm sorry. I hope you feel better. Uly, there is something I need you to do." 

"What is it?" Uly asked. 

"I realized why you came here, why they are allowing us to meet like this," she said, indicating the silent Terrians. "I didn't think that they could communicate over time, but somehow they are allowing us to do so. You are here so that I can pass a message onto your mother. She is the leader of your people, just like me. I must tell her about my mission and let her know everything that went wrong. You must tell her everything that I tell you so that she doesn't make the same mistakes. Can you do that, Uly?" 

"Yes, I think so," he said. 

The two of them sat down at the base of the large stone building and Anna began her story. "I'll start from the beginning. I told you that we came here, searching for an alternative to life in the space stations. Our ship was the Drache. There were 55 of us all together. We had discovered a planet that we believed could support life and we estimated that the journey to that place would take eight years. We were surprised when we awoke and 27 years had passed. When our pilots awoke from ColdSleep after eight years, they found the first target unlivable. Our pilots, Alexander and Armon, found another target, this planet, reset the controls of the ship, and returned to ColdSleep. When we finally arrived here, we discovered that this place was everything we had hoped for. It was perfect. We had found our new home. 

We had to send a message back to Earth to inform them of our finding. We could tell them that there was no need to use the space stations. We could live like human beings beneath an open sky. Unfortunately the communication system on the Drache had failed. Our ship was truly not designed for such a long mission. We had lost long range communication, and the ship only had minimal short-range communication available. We debated our options, but finally we decided to send the Drache back to Earth. Alexander and Armon volunteered to take the return trip and let the people of Earth know what we had found. The rest of us would disembark on the planet. Uly, have you ever heard of the Drache? Of Alexander Rienhardt or Armon Pollin?" 

"No, Anna, I haven't." 

Anna looked very sullen, "They were so sure of themselves. Pilots are always so sure of themselves. I didn't want to let them go, but it was the best thing to do. The ship was too old." She sighed and then she continued with the story, "We divided into two teams and used our two shuttlecraft to travel to the surface. I am the leader of the Alpha Team. My husband Konstantine traveled with me, as did my brother Karl and my sister Helen and her family. Otto Bethke was the leader of the Beta Team. He was a headstrong man, a good leader. We used to joke about who would be the first to conquer this new planet and civilize it." 

"During the trip to the planet's surface we became separated. Our shuttles had malfunctioned due to their years of disuse and we found ourselves many kilometers apart. Our shuttle landed very near here. We attempted to contact Otto and the others, but our equipment was plagued with the same problems that had affected our ship. We used the Drache to transmit the message; their short-range communication system was at least functioning. When we finally made contact with the Beta Team, we discovered that they had landed far to the east of us, with many injuries. We would have to go to them. So we started traveling eastward. Then the Drache left orbit and our communication ceased. We had enough vehicles to carry all of us: three Carriers, plus our TrailMaker and Crawler. We would go to our friends. We would find them." 

"I started to have strange dreams, like the one we are experiencing now. At first I was very afraid, but then I learned that this was the way that the Terrians choose to communicate with us." She looked up again at the Terrians. "I think that they always did their best to help us, but there was only so much that they could do." 

Uly nodded. "The Terrians have helped us too. We don't always know what they want though." 

Anna continued, "We found an incredible forest. Nothing like it existed on Earth any longer. We were humbled by its greatness, but we needed to pass through to reach the Beta Team. We used LaserSlicers to cut down the trees and the TrailMaker to clear the path." She pointed to the stone building behind them, but Uly didn't understand why. 

"What's a LaserSlicer and a TrailMaker." 

Anna smiled. "The LaserSlicer is a tool, about so big." she spread her arms wide, "It is a lightweight device used for cutting. We used them to cut down the trees of the Great Forest. The TrailMaker is a vehicle. It is very tall, you need a ladder to climb up into it. We used it to irradiate the ground and the tree stumps. Then we used the Crawler to flatten the road so that the Carriers could get through. The Crawler is a low vehicle, used to carry heavy loads and to flatten roads. The Carriers are transport machines." 

"It took four months to build that road. It was very hard work. There were strange creatures in the forest. There were awful dogs that terrorized us for many days until we discovered that they were afraid of our ElectroLanterns." 

"We were on that road!" Uly cried. "That's how we got through the forest. We had a lantern too. It says 'MTR' on the top. What does that mean? A Grendlers gave it to us while we were in the woods." 

The Grendlers," Anna sighed and was silent for several moments. "Of course, I will get to that as well. There is so much more to say that I must continue with the story as it happened." 

She was quiet again, and then she continued, "My people were all very hard workers. Dieter Mueller knew everything there was to know about building roads. He was our inspiration. Without him the road would never have been built. He used to sing as he worked. He always sang loudly. Everybody loved him." 

"Did you guys build the bridge too?" 

She smiled. "The bridge belongs to my brother Karl, my engineer. I have never seen anyone as happy as Karl when he started work on the bridge. He just loved to build things. I believe he had waited all his life for such an opportunity. But the bridge was difficult. The bridge was very difficult for all of us." 

"What do you mean?" 

"At first it started well. We needed to get across the river. We scouted it for several days but were unable to find an adequate place to cross. We decided to build a bridge. Our equipment was heavy, especially the Crawler. We decided that a stone bridge would best support its weight and we were able to find an adequate supply of stone nearby. We were afraid that the Terrians would not want us to cut into the stone, but once we showed them what we meant to do with it, they seemed satisfied and allowed us to build the quarry. Everything was going so well when we lost Marta and Albert." Her voice became quiet and her eyes intense. "Nobody is sure how it happened. We were all working so hard when part of the bridge collapsed and they were gone." Anna wiped her hand across her eyes. "We chased them down the river, but . . . but the river was too strong. There was no hope for them." 

"True and Morgan fell into the river," Uly stated helpfully, "But they're okay." 

Anna smiled, "I'm happy that they're okay. We weren't that lucky. After that loss, we fell apart. We argued for days about what we should do. Whether we should continue to try and reach the Beta Party or whether we should come to terms with the fact that building this bridge was a folly. Dieter believed that we should forget about finding the Beta Party and return to the landing site, because the valley seemed fertile. He decided that it would be a good place to set up our new home. Paul, our most experienced driver, believed that we had not exhausted the possibility that we could drive across the river farther to the north. Konstantine, my family and some of the others stood by my side in my decision to continue our building of the bridge. We fought terribly, although we all loved each other very much. I was too distraught to think clearly. I would accept any solution that was given to me. Finally, the decision was made. Since we could not agree, we would agree to disagree. We would separate and each person would follow the idea that they believed in." 

"Dieter took part of our group back through the woods to the valley with the TrailMaker and one of the Carriers. Paul traveled upriver to find a better crossing point with a small group of our people. He took another one of the Carriers. That left me with only ten people, including myself, to finish the bridge with the Crawler and the last Carrier. I often look back at this moment as my worst decision. I should never have let us part." 

"But you did finish the bridge?" 

"Oh yes, but at a price. Karl was destroyed by the deaths of Marta and Albert. He blamed himself. The completion of the bridge was the only thing that mattered to him after that. He worked at a fevered pitch, always the first one to work and the last one to lay down his tools at the end of the day. He studied his blueprints endlessly. He hardly ate or slept. He seemed almost unable to speak about anything that wasn't pertaining to that black creation. I spoke to him on the day that the bridge was to be completed. His eyes were so strange, so distant from me. I hardly recognized him anymore. When the final stones were laid, a calmness seemed to finally fall on him. He was laughing. He looked up at me and smiled. He slipped from the bridge before any of us could move." 

She sighed deeply and looked over to Uly. "I truly miss him. He was my little brother. I used to look after him when he was a baby. He had such tiny shoes." She held out her hand as if she was holding an infant's shoe. "I always wanted to hold him and cuddle him, but he would have nothing of it. He wanted to walk on his own." 

* * * *

The rain continued to fall as night fell. The MedTent had been crowded, but Julia had just moved most of the ailing patients out and back to their own tents. She had sent Cameron to look after them as best he could. Their headaches and muscle pains were steadily growing worse. Now, just Devon, Uly, Morgan and Bess remained. Uly still slept in his mother's lap. Bess sat with her aching head in her hands and Morgan sat nervously beside her. Julia continued to study at her diagnostic computer. Her head was thundering and she could hardly think anymore. Her arms and back hurt so badly that every movement brought new pain. She had run every diagnostic that she could think of, but she just couldn't think anymore. She had been able to verify that the insect bites were at the root of their problem, but she still had not been able to determine why Morgan was the only one unaffected. 

"So what is it?" Morgan asked. "Do you know what it is yet?" 

"No," Julia said flatly, "Still looking." 

"Are you going to run more tests on me?" 

"Yes." 

Morgan looked about, uncertainly. "They're not going to hurt are they?" 

"I don't know. We'll see what we can do." Her words were low and terse, through gritted teeth. If she could only make the pain in her head stop, she might be able to come up with an answer. 

Devon ran her hand over Uly's head. Julia had said that he was in a deep sleep and dreaming. He seemed to be peaceful enough, but Devon was still unable to wake him. Her own head hurt so badly that she only hoped that his wasn't hurting as well. She watched as Morgan squirmed under Julia's scrutiny. Devon knew that if Julia was feeling as poorly as she was, that it would be very hard for her to figure out what was going on. She only hoped that the answer would come soon. This was not like the sickness she had known before, when the planet was rejecting her. This was different. It was almost more cruel, because the onset of the pain was so slow, but constant. It was like being slowly squeezed in a giant press, with no sign of relief 

"Why don't you just start injecting people with stuff. I mean, hit them with everything in your book. Something's got to work." Morgan looked hopefully between the three women. "You're bound to find the right one." 

Julia looked up at Morgan with tired eyes. Then she gestured to half dozen cartridges that sat next to her SedaDerm. "That's why," she said quietly. Bess and Morgan looked confused, but a glance at Devon showed that she understood. Julia continued, "The SedaDerm doesn't run on air and water. It needs the RJ214 cartridge to supply the inert gel. The SedaDerm converts the RJ214 to the prescribed medication." 

Bess squinted at the tiny assembly of cartridges. "Is that all that's left?" 

Devon nodded. Julia had kept her apprised of the situation. The doctor had done her best to cut back on the dosages she was using, but it was inevitable; they would have to eventually run out. The hope had always been that they would find the other CargoPods before that happened. 

"Will that be enough of those RJ214s?" Morgan asked. "Once you figure out what's going on, will it be enough?" 

"Yes," Julia said, "As long as I can figure out why you are immune. As long as I can figure out what makes you different." 

"It doesn't make sense, why am I the only one who doesn't have it? I'm the one that everything usually happens to," Morgan whined. "Everything happens to me. I'm the one that got hurt in the DuneRail wreck. I'm the one that almost drowned. I'm the one that gets drooled on by every Grendler we come across. I'm the one that gets hung upside-down. I'm the one that gets stung by a koba. I'm the one that gets drugged and tied up all night in the middle of nowhere..." Morgan stopped his tirade when he saw Julia staring at him. "Ah, really, I had almost forgotten that last one." 

"Koba venom," Julia said and turned quickly to the computer. She tapped excitedly on the keyboard. "When you were stung by the koba, your blood was filled with toxins." She peered at the data on the screen. "There, you see. This is a copy of the readout I took that day. Toxins were all through your system. Enough to kill you...but it didn't." She tapped on the keyboard again and brought up another report. "And here is a read-out of your blood today." 

Devon looked up. "Is it there?" 

"I'm looking....I'm looking." Several minutes passed as Julia keyed the computer. Then, finally, a satisfying ping answered her inquiry. "Yes! It's here. In very minute quantities, but it is there." 

"Koba venom?" Devon asked. 

"Koba antitoxin." Julia answered. 

"And that's why Morgan is the only one who isn't sick?" 

Julia shrugged. "It's the only thing that I have to go on. It's possible that the same antibodies he has built up to deal with the koba toxins will also affect the insect toxins." 

"Can you replicate it? Will you be able to use the cartridges" 

Julia shook her head. "The cartridges will get us only half way there. I will need the actual antitoxin to create the cure." 

Morgan looked up nervously. "Where are you going to get enough kobas to sting everyone? I, I don't think it's such a good idea. It's not the kinda thing I'd go doing, I mean it wasn't a very pleasant experience." He looked from Bess to Uly. "I don't think that would be a good thing to do to everyone." 

"There's another way." 

"What? What is it?" Morgan watched her apprehensively. 

"Morgan Martin, I want your blood." 

* * * *

"We had finished the bridge when winter set in. We didn't know what to do. We still needed to meet our colleagues, but the snow made the going impossible. I missed Dieter, Paul and the others. We had no contact with either group and we had no idea what had happened to them. We were searching for food when we found this strange small creature, a koba. I tried to capture it, but was stung by it. Oh Uly, it was very painful, it was like dying. I fell into a coma for many days. Everyone thought I had died, but Konstantine, my beloved husband and our doctor, wouldn't give up. He kept me warm and safe for the entire time. The others thought that he had gone insane with grief, but I awoke from it days later. Stay away from the kobas, Uly. They cause nothing but trouble." 

"Oh we know," Uly answered. "One of 'em did the same thing to Captain O'Neil and to Morgan. We didn't know that the Captain would wake up so we buried him. We knew better by the time Morgan got stung. The Grendlers dug up the Captain, but he got killed anyway." 

Anna nodded, but didn't seem to hear him. "By the time I woke up again, my group had settled in for the winter near the bridge. I was too weak to protest. One morning after I had fully recovered, I saw a vehicle heading toward us from the other side of the bridge. At first I thought it was part of Paul's party and that they had found their way across the river. But it wasn't Paul; it was Trudi from the Beta Team, the other shuttlecraft. Finally, we had found them! Our spirits soared, until she reached us." 

"Trudi, dear sweet Trudi, she once was so robust and smiling. You could always count on Trudi to cheer you. This young woman who arrived in the Carrier wasn't the same person anymore. She was a shrunken version of that lively woman, with eyes that still haunt me. She told me that they had suffered awful casualties in the crash and that they had landed in a desert, without food or water. The survivors died one by one. She suffered each loss until she was alone. I didn't think I would ever comprehend what she felt." 

Anna drew her knees up to her chest and sat silently for a moment. "Twenty-five people died in that desert. I knew and loved them as much as the people that I took in my team. The loss was incredible. We lost Monika and Leo, Abbot, Eva and Oskar, Ilse, Georg, so many people. The news troubled us all. So many people gone. So many good people, and Karl, Marta and Albert too. We didn't know what had become of Dieter and Paul, and the others who went with them. We felt very alone at the Bridge Camp." 

"The winter was very difficult. We survived mostly on fish from the river. When the weather finally broke, we packed up one Carrier and headed north to look for Paul, leaving behind the other vehicles. It felt strange to leave the bridge after we had striven so hard to complete it, but from what Trudi had told us, there was no need to go looking for the others. We never really crossed Karl's Bridge." 

"We traveled north for eight days when we came upon a terrible sight. We found the wreck of the Carrier that Paul and the rest had taken. They had been traveling too close to the river's edge and the bank had given way. From the direction the vehicle was pointed, they were traveling back downriver toward us. If the people had fallen into the river and drown, it is possible that we did not see their remains as they floated past, especially if the accident happened after the bridge was completed. If we had only been on the river at that time...well." She shook her head, and continued. "We continued north for another ten days just in case. We discovered signs of their encampments, but we never found any of the Northern Party. Six people, six of my people gone like that, gone like the rest." 

"I'm sorry," Uly said, because Anna looked so sad. 

"If they had only stayed with us. If I had only demanded that we stay together..." Her voice trailed off, then she turned again to Uly and looked at him with her fierce gray eyes. "I know that this is a difficult story for such a young boy, but it is important that you tell your mother all about it. It is important that she knows." 

* * * *

Julia carefully processed the latest blood sample while Morgan rubbed his bandaged arm. "Why did you have to use a needle. Don't you have some sort of a thing-a-ma-bob that doesn't hurt?" 

Julia shook her head. "Not if I want to remove any quantity of blood. Besides, it really shouldn't hurt, Morgan." 

Morgan frowned. "I just hope there isn't going to be any more quantities," he muttered. Julia had already stuck him three times, each time drawing a larger sample. "I'm not going to have any blood left." 

Julia squinted against the pain in her head as she watched the read-out on the monitor. "Come on, find the anti-toxin," she said under her breath. So far the machine had only been able to locate a minuscule amount of the necessary molecules, hardly enough to inject any of the group. Several minutes passed as the computer continued its search, slowly recording an increase in its findings. "There, that's it!" She removed the SedaDerm from the side of the processor and looked at it for a moment. "I don't know what this will do. Morgan has had it in his system for over a year. He could be conditioned to the effects. This may put whomever I inject into a coma. Hell, it may not do anything. I'm grasping at straws here." 

"Then I'll be the first," Devon said. "If it causes any ill effect, I want you to be in your right mind." 

"Maybe it should be me then," Bess said quietly. "Because the group will need you too." 

"Hey! It's my blood," Morgan pouted. "It's not like being bitten by a snake." 

Devon nodded to Julia and the doctor gave Bess the injection. Everyone sat quietly, watching Bess as she rubbed her temples. 

* * * *

In the DreamPlane, Uly sat silently beside Anna and listened. She continued to tell him her story. "We finally decided to return to the Valley Camp, our landing site. But Ella, Trudi and Wilhelm had fallen ill with a fever. We could not make it all the way back to the landing site where the others were waiting. We decided to stop at the Bridge Camp. By that time the Crawler and the Beta Team's Carrier were gone. Grendlers probably took them. We had seen Grendlers quite often, but rarely had contact with them. The fever had grown worse and it was obvious that we could travel no further with the sufferers. We decided that it would be best for everyone if we left Ella, Trudi and Wilhelm at the Bridge Camp with Konstantine and Gretta. The rest of us would continue to the Valley Camp to meet again with Dieter and the rest. It broke my heart to leave Konstantine there, but I decided that it was the right thing to do. I remember the last time I held Konstantine in my arms." She held up her hands as if she was embracing a ghost. "He told me, 'Don't give up hope.' We walked along the river, unable to speak a word. And then we stopped and he looked into my eyes..." her voice trailed off and she stared off into space. 

"Anna," Uly said timidly, breaking the spell on the woman. 

Anna cleared her throat and with some effort, began to speak again. "It was while we were on the road through the forest when we faced another tragedy. Josef was walking out in front with the children when a Grendler approached him from out of the shadows. He was surprised and the Grendler took the LaserSlicer that Josef was carrying. We had been using these tools as protection from the wild dogs in the forest, in case the ElectroLanterns failed. I think that the Grendler meant no harm. He only wanted the tool. The LaserSlicer discharged when the Grendler took it, and two of our children, Bettina and Maria, were killed. The flash frightened the Grendler. It threw the tool down and it discharged again, killing Eric, who was only nine years old. Then the creature ran off into the woods. We never saw any of the Grendlers after that. It was a horrible accident. In only a few seconds all of our remaining children were lost. Some in the group wanted revenge, to hunt down the Grendlers who lived in the wood and exterminate them. But that would have been wrong. It was an accident. I forgave them." 

Anna sat with her head in her hands and sighed, "The lantern that you spoke about, with 'MTR' stamped on it, belonged to one of the children, Maria Teresa Ruch. She was such a lovely child. No matter what happened she was always cheerful and able to see the bright side of things. She was my niece. My sister Helen was never the same after she lost her Maria and her Eric. Eric was full of adventure, always ready to burst ahead of the rest of us. He never ran out of energy. Bettina was Wilhelm and Gretta's little girl. Oh, how she loved to dance. She was so worried about leaving her parents behind at the Bridge Camp, but we brought her with us because we thought it would be safer for her. A light went out in our group when we lost them, and the sky grew a little dimmer." 

Anna sat up again and continued her story. "We returned to the valley more than a year after we had first arrived. We found Dieter and his party here. They had built this small village, using the trees from the forest. Dieter's group had suffered loss as well. They had not been able to find enough food and Katherine, the oldest of our group, had not survived. She was like a mother to us all. Everyone who survived was thin and weak. They had lost their Carrier to the Grendlers some time ago. In order to save the TrailMaker they had built this stone fortress for it." Anna indicated the stone building that they were leaning against. "It is the only vehicle that we still have. I had to abandon the last Carrier during a trip into the south, when it's engine finally failed. I believe that the Grendlers could have made their way into this structure if they had wanted to. But for some reason, they didn't want to. It's ironic of course that the TrailMaker was damaged during the construction of this building. We protected it, but we cannot use it." 

"We had to return to the Bridge Camp for my Konstantine and the others, once we felt the fever would have passed, so we started back east shortly after we had arrived at the Valley Camp. We still had the last Carrier at this time. When we reached the Bridge Camp, our worst fears were realized. No one was alive." Again, Anna paused, then summoning up her strength, she continued. "My beloved Konstantine, and his nurse, Gretta, had given their lives to try and save the lives of the others. The fever did not spare them. All of them, it took all of them." She drew in her breath slowly. "My Konstantine, so tall and handsome. He had such a beautiful voice and he used to sing to me, softly. He was my good sense. He was my sounding board. He was my beloved. Without him, I felt like half a person. It was so like him to give his life to save the others, but how would I go on without him? I felt as weak and as helpless as when I had suffered the koba bite. There was nothing I could do. We left a monument to them at the base of the bridge, for them and for all who died at the river. Then we created a second memorial to leave in the forest, at the site where we had lost our children. It was my dream to someday reach the site of the Beta Team's shuttle crash, but for now, I just wanted my group to be whole again" 

"We returned to the Valley Camp heavy hearted. Out of the 55 people that had started our journey, only 13 remained. We decided to stay in the valley and do our best to make a home here. We knew that this planet was a good place. The Drache wouldn't return for 50 years, but if we could make the valley a livable place for those who were coming, it would be worth while." 

****

"Honey," Morgan said. "You're all right now, aren't you?" 

Bess looked up and smiled. "I think it's working. My head isn't hurting anymore." She moved her arms cautiously, "My joints don't seem to be as bad either." 

Everyone in the MedTent breathed a sigh of relief. Julia began scanning Bess with the DiaGlove. "The insect toxins are gone," she said with a smile. 

"You see!" Morgan said. "Nothing wrong with Morgan Martin's blood. What's the matter with you people?" 

Julia next injected Devon and then herself. "What about Uly?" Devon cried. 

"I only had enough antidote in that batch for the three of us and I'll have to recalculate for the children. I don't want to give them too much." She pressed the next cartridge into the SedaDerm and then reached again for her hematology equipment. "Have you had anything to eat today Morgan?" 

"What? Not since this afternoon. Just those apples. I've been too worried about Bess and too busy sitting in here letting you poke and prod me." 

Julia nodded to Bess., "Why don't you go fix him a nice batch of apple juice and see if there is anything else you can dig up for him to eat."

Morgan looked suspicious. "Is this supposed to be some act of gratitude?" 

"Not exactly. I just want to keep you from passing out. We're going to need a bit more blood out of you," Juliaa explained. 

Morgan's suspicious look grew deeper. "How much more?" 

"Just lay back and let me do the work. Bess, bring plenty of fluids. We'll have to keep him hydrated."

"Bess!" Morgan cried as his wife left the tent in search of munchies. "I don't want to be a pincushion!" 

"Be brave," Bess said as she left. 

Morgan watched uneasily as Julia advanced on him with another needle. "Vampires," he said and closed his eyes. 

* * * *

"Dieter and the others had planted the valley with the seeds and the starts that we had brought with us, but they never bore. The plants would begin heartily, and flower, but they didn't produce. The soil and atmosphere here was different than on Earth and our vegetation had no chance of survival. We brought animal stock with us in ColdStorage, so if nothing else, we might be able to exist on them. In the autumn came the rains. It rained for days on end and finally when the rains stopped, the insects came. The insects remained for only a few hours and then they were gone, but it was enough. The rain had softened the soil and the animals were driven mad by the insect bites. They broke through the fences and were lost." 

"Then the illness started amongst us. My people, all that remained, fell ill with headaches and muscle-aches that didn't let up. Nothing we tried stopped it. It continued to worsen and finally the illness killed them. My sister Helen was the first to go. We had always been so close. She was my best friend and my confidant. After her children were taken from her, she had no desire to live. It was almost a blessing for her, but for me..." Anna trailed off, and then began again. " Then her husband followed, then Dieter. I watched them go, one by one, until I was the only one that remained. We blamed the insects. They return here every fall, after the first break in the rains, but they never take me." 

"I failed them so miserably, I cannot begin to explain it. Uly, it is very important that you tell your mother all of this. Do you understand? Let her know how I failed. Let her know what I did wrong so that she may not fail as I have." 

Uly cocked his head. "I don't see where you failed though," he said. "I mean, it wasn't your fault. Sometimes bad things just happen. It's bad luck." 

"I didn't keep my people together. Every time I think back on those times when I allowed us to split up, I realize that I made a horrible mistake." 

"Mom hasn't let us split up like that. We have scouting parties go out sometimes but we always come back together again. We always try to stay together." 

"I'm glad about that Uly. If your mother continues to do that, you all should be all right." 

"Mom told me once that our only hope of reaching New Pacifica is if we stick together." Uly looked at Anna and saw that her eyes were full of tears. "Are you okay?" 

"When I was little, my grandfather toldl me of a time when the sky on Earth was beautiful and blue. He watched it during his lifetime change from blue to yellow with smog. By the time I was born, the idea of a blue sky was like a myth. Still, I believed what my grandfather told me. I believed that human beings were meant to live beneath a blue sky, not under layers of pollution and not enclosed in plastic and metal. When we came here the sky was so startlingly blue that I could hardly contain myself. Everything that I had hoped for had come true. As my people began to die, as they left me, I saw the clouds closing in on my dream. But I still believed that the sky was there beyond the clouds, I still had hope. Now, when I sit here alone, I can still see the sky. I still believe there is hope. If not for me, well ..." 

* * * *

Uly gasped in surprise to find himself lying in his mother's arms in the MedTent. She said his name softly and kissed him. He looked about at the expectant faces. "Looks like he's going to be all right," Julia said as she handed a SedaDerm to Cameron, "See that everyone receives their injection. Looks like things are about to get a bit brighter." 

The boy blinked as he sat up and looked around. Morgan lay on the cot next to him, looking a little pale and drowsy. Julia was carefully taking the liaison's blood pressure while Bess looked on. "Mom," Uly said, "There's something I need to tell you." 

* * * *

When morning arrived, the long rain had finally stopped and the insects showed no sign of returning. Yale joined the group in the MedTent, and he listened with the rest as Uly recounted the story. Morgan napped on the cot while the others talked. The others in the party began to stir and move about the camp. They found more fruit and vegetables growing nearby and began collecting. When Danziger heard that the stone structure housed a vehicle, he formed a team to break into the building. He shouted with joy when the machine saw the light of day again. Not only did the TrailMaker await them, but also a pair of LaserSlicers. A quick examination of the high riding vehicle revealed that it was too damaged to run again, but the spare parts were a gold mine. "Grab my tools True-Girl," he said to his daughter, whose eyes glowed as bright as his own at the sight, "It's time to open our gifts." 

"Yale, is there no record of their ship, the Drache, returning to Earth?" Devon asked the cyborg. 

"I have nothing listed in my databanks concerning that ship or the pilots. I have no listing of the name 'Drache'." Yale responded. 

"Drache?" Morgan said feebly, looking up from his bed. Julia had taken a substantial quantity of blood from him. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to leave him weak for some time, "Where? Where did you hear that?" 

"Good morning, Sunshine!" Bess plopped herself down beside him. "Are you hungry?" 

"Where did you hear about Drache?" Morgan asked again. 

"Why?" Devon asked, "Have you heard the name?" 

Morgan licked his lips and seemed to make an effort to come to a decision, "Well, when I signed up for this mission, we used a code word for it, Drache." The others looked at each other in silence. Morgan watched them uneasily, unable to figure out what their expressions meant. "What's wrong?" 

"Their pilots did make it back." Devon said. "They must have made it back to Earth some 50 years after they left it. The space stations would have been well established by that time. The Council probably didn't want anyone to know the news that the Drache brought, so they silenced the information. That's how they knew about this planet and why they were able to send the penal colonists here." She turned to Uly, "Uly, tonight, when you go to sleep, I want you to visit the DreamPlane again. I want you to find Anna and I want you to tell her something." 

* * * *

"Uly," Anna said softly, "I'm glad to see you again. I've been lonely." 

"I told my mom everything, like you told me and she wanted me to deliver a message to you." 

Anna looked at the boy expectantly. "What did she want to tell me?" 

"She needs you to know that you were not a failure," Uly said. "She said that we never would've made it across the river if you hadn't built the bridge. We didn't have the quarry on our side of the river and we didn't have a forest so we didn't have anything to build with. So the bridge worked. We used it. We crossed it. It was a good bridge. And, we wouldn't have made it through the forest without your road. We didn't have the machines you had. You figured out that the lanterns kept those wild dogs away and you forgave the Grendlers. If you didn't do that then the dogs might have killed us, because the Grendlers are the ones who gave us the lantern. They had kept it all that time. They were always sorry for what happened." 

"You planted food and stuff and the food kept growing. It's all over the place now. We were hungry. Because you did that we have food to eat now. And, you saved the TrailMaker, now we can fix the TransRover so we can keep moving. Mom said that everything you did helped us. You did what you wanted to do. You helped the people who followed you. You helped us! And we are going to be helping the others who are still coming. You see? You didn't fail." 

Anna smiled, but her eyes were wet with tears. She knelt down beside Uly. "I now understand why we were brought together. You were brought to me to tell me that I did not fail. My work accomplished something. My people did not die in vain. Everything we did here, we did for you. I am proud to think that I was able to help you and your people." She hugged Uly tightly. 

Then she continued, "And I also understand why I was brought to you. It's not to tell your mother what to do. Obviously she knows how to lead her people, otherwise you never would have come this far. You are here so that I can tell YOU how to lead. Someday you will be a great leader. You have observed your mother and you know what is right. I am here to tell you what happens when you make poor choices." 

"I'm just a kid. Nobody's going to follow me." 

"I know you will lead someday. And now you know both sides." She smiled again and stood up and walked over to the Terrians who had always been nearby during their talks. "Thank you," she said humbly to them. "Thank you for this opportunity." And then she walked back to Uly. "It's time for me to leave now Uly. I must join my people. We've been too long apart. Good-bye, and Uly remember..." And with that Uly awoke. 

* * * *

With the end of the rain, the Eden Advance Party spent several days in the valley. With the parts from the TrailMaker, Danziger was finally able to fix the long crippled TransRover. They stocked the vehicle with samples from the new vegetation in the valley. They found wheat and oats, carrots and turnips. Apricots, pears and late bearing strawberries, flax and cotton, and several spices. Their larder was the fullest it had ever been. The LaserSlicers and spare parts from the TrailMaker were carefully stowed as well. 

Finally, the cloud cover lifted enough to reveal the high mountains to the west. Devon looked at the mountains with trepidation. It would be a difficult crossing, but she could see a pass cutting through that would be the easiest route. The sky was clear and blue through this pass and something told her that New Pacifica was not far beyond. The sky beyond the mountains beckoned to her and she knew that it was time to be moving again. They were almost there. 

Once again, the group packed up and started on their way west, toward that patch of blue sky. They crossed a slow meandering river, so wide and corded, that it only came up to their knees at its deepest part. As they left the valley and started up the pass, Devon looked back into the German Lands and considered all that Anna Gerting had accomplished. She had helped them so much. Devon was glad that they were able to tell her that. Devon had asked Uly to tell her everything except for the fact that the Drache had returned to Earth. It seemed unfair to burden her with the fact that her pilots succeeded, but their mission had failed. 

Just as they left level ground, a thundering sound rose out of the north and a herd of animals rushed past them through the valley. True jumped up and down and screamed for joy as she recognized what she saw. Horses, wild horses ran with the manes flying, galloped through the valley. The group stared in shock at the sight, but it was easy to believe. Anna Gerting and the New Earth Explorers had been here. Anything was possible. They watched as the wild animals followed the river and then disappeared from sight. Devon would have to return someday to this place someday. There were other surprises to be found here, but for now, they had to start moving before winter set in. 

The group continued into the high foothills. Devon, who had walked out ahead of the group, paused and let the others pass. The TransRover was in the lead, climbing effortlessly into the mountains. Danziger smiled broadly at the controls and waved nonchalantly at her. For the first time in almost two months, he didn't have to fight the machine to keep it moving. Walman and Magus walked beside the vehicle, hand in hand. Next came the ATV. Bess was riding and Morgan driving it, looking very serious. True ran up beside them and said something to Morgan that made Bess burst into laughter, and Morgan blush. Uly caught up to True and the two children ran off ahead of the rest. Alonzo and Julia walked behind the ATV. Julia was pointing something out to Alonzo who stopped to see what it was, and then strode forward to catch up to the ATV and point it out to the Martins as well. Next came the DuneRail with Yale, Mazatl, Denner and Zero. Yale was trying to explain something to Zero, and Mazatl was shaking his head at the impossibility of it. Finally came Baines and Cameron. Baines was talking to Cameron in a disinterested yet intense way and Cameron nodded in agreement. A strawberry suddenly splattered against Baines' head. He looked up quickly to the DuneRail, only to hear Denner giggling, and to see Matazl peering back at them innocently from around the seatback. Devon watched them all as they moved along past her. It was good to see them all here together. She turned and followed, heading toward the pass through the mountains and the sky beyond. 

****

THE END 

* * *

  
_Ta-Da! Okay, that's it. The trilogy is done. Sorry about introducing a new character (well, a lot of new characters)... It was the only way I could think of to fix that riddle of the bridge (why did I do that anyway?). It took me forever, but I finally finished it. I tried to interject all sorts of symbolism and metaphorical stuff. Don't know if it worked. _

[Please drop me a note and let me know what you think!][1]

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	5. The Meadow, Green and Bright

__

This story is based on the TV Show, Earth2 and is in no way meant to infringe on anyone or anything. As I have said before, it's just for fun! Really! I swear! Don't sue me!

This story takes place after the series ended, and follows my previous trilogy of stories, "The River, the Road, and the Sky Beyond." It would probably be best if you read them first, but this one can kinda stand on it's own. 

Anyway, after I tied up the trilogy, and let it sit around for a couple years, I got interested in continuing the story. This is just a little story about our friends, as they reach a mountain meadow, on their way to New Pacifica. It involves pretty much everyone and you shouldn't be offended by anything in here. 

* * *

****

The Meadow - Green and Bright

Late autumn was setting in. The air was cool and crisp. The nights had become cold again, and they were traveling into the mountains - colder still. Devon rode out front in the DuneRail with Danziger. He leaned back to get a better view of the sharp peaks that sprouted on either side of them. "Now," he said, "Those are what I call mountains." 

"I'm just glad that we have a way to get through them," Devon responded. The pass that they drove through was wide, and the incline, relatively kind. Although it was obvious that they were gaining elevation, you could hardly tell that you were crossing through a mountain range. She turned around to see the rest of the group, falling further behind. "You better slow down a bit, Danziger," she said, "We're loosing them." 

Danziger was about to say something, but instead he drew the vehicle to a halt and climbed out. They were in an alpine meadow, green and bright with wildflowers. Devon joined him and looked out across the landscape. The meadow was filled with every imaginable color, even this late in the season. Flowers bloomed in deep blues and vivid purples, startling yellows and vibrant reds. Everywhere she looked, there was something fresh and beautiful. She could hear the gentle sound of a creek nearby, and the wind blew softly. 

She watched as the rest of the group slowly approached them, the mighty TransRover out in front, with the ATV following at its flank. Around the vehicles, the group was walking slowly and determinedly up the mountain. She had to smile at the sight. Who would have imagined it? These people, most of whom had never set foot on a planet before G889, were climbing a mountain. If she had told them to climb this pass all those many months ago, she doubted if any would have followed her. Now, they came without comment and without complaint. It was just part of their day. Even Morgan, who always supplied a constant drone of protests and lamentations, had been relatively quiet. 

"We'll camp here tonight," Devon said to Danziger. 

He looked at her, puzzled. "Ah, it's kinda early Adair. We still have half a day ahead of us. We can probably make it over that next rise without any problems." 

"They deserve a rest," she answered. "Remember, you've been driving all day. A lot of these people have been walking." She waved to Bess, who was driving the TransRover, and then shouted to everyone, "Okay, we're breaking for the day. Set up our home for the night." 

Danziger just shook his head. He couldn't believe that Adair would stop when the day was only half over. She certainly had changed from the beginning of their journey. He had to admit that it would be nice to have an afternoon off. As he glanced at the weary walkers, he realized that they were in need of it. 

Without another word, everyone set to a task. Bess climbed down from the TransRover and circled around in time to see Morgan slowly disembark from the other side. He landed very carefully and then started to walk stiffly away when he saw Bess. "Is your knee still bothering you, honey?" she asked. 

Morgan sighed, "It's from sitting all day. My knee hurts, by back hurts. I'm a wreck. If we would just take breaks more often it wouldn't be so bad. But no, we have to keep going all day long. The way it is now, it'll take at least an hour before I starts feeling okay again." 

Bess shook her head. "Morgan, you really should tell Julia about this. I know that she's running low on that stuff for the SedaDerm, but I'm sure she can do something to help." 

"Nooooo," Morgan cried, "No, you can't let her know. You can't let any of them know. If they think I can't pull my own weight..." he dropped his voice to a secretive whisper, "...they'll leave me behind just like they did to Julia." 

"Morgan," Bess said sternly, "Really, this isn't funny. Nobody's going to leave you behind." She had heard this before from him. 

"I was the first one to say that we should leave Julia. Do you think anyone wouldn't want to do the same to me? I know what they think about me." 

"Well," Bess started, "I can tell you that they used to think that you were nothing but a whining pain in the ass that never did anything to help anyone other than himself." Morgan looked as if he had been stung, but Bess continued, " But I think you've kinda grown on them. You've changed. They've changed. We've all changed. They're not going to leave you behind if you can't help out around the camp. I mean, they're used to you not working as hard as the rest of them anyway." 

"You think that I don't pull my share?" Morgan sounded like a little child. "You don't think I'm a whining pain in the ass, do you?" 

"No honey," Bess said, kissing him and then drawing away quickly, "At least most of the time." She smiled when she saw his hurt look. "Oh Morgan, you know I don't think that. I know better than anyone how hard you have been working to fit in with everyone. I know that you try to help out. If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have any working computers, and I know that you walk much further than you should everyday. I know everything, Morgan." 

He looked dubious, so Bess leaned against him and kissed him again. "You are going to see Julia, aren't you?" 

"It's going away already." He tested his leg. "Yeah, it's gone now. I don't need to talk to Julia." 

"Morgan..." Bess began. 

"Swear you won't say anything to her. It's just a little thing. It's nothing at all really." 

"All right," Bess said skeptically, as she watched Morgan walk way, ineffectively trying to hide his limp. 

Tents were erected and a campsite was in place within a few minutes. Bess prepared their mid-day meal almost immediately. She made a rich vegetable soup and soon everyone was relaxing with their lunch. True and Uly finished early and were soon chasing each other across the wide, flower-filled meadow, while the others relaxed quietly. It was warm and pleasant, and there was no reason to move just yet. 

Cameron leaned back and looked up into the mountains surrounding them. "Look," he said to Magus, who was closest to him. "Do you see that?" He pointed up into the mountains. 

She squinted as she looked where he indicated. "See what?" 

"Looks like a dry creek bed or maybe some sort of animal path leading up to that notch on the mountainside." 

"So what of it?" she said with a shrug. 

"I bet we could drive the DuneRail up there and get a real good look around." 

She smiled, "Hey, I bet we could." She stood and stretched. "We should give it a good look-see." 

"What? Now?" Cameron had just gotten himself comfortable and the sudden suggestion that they should be moving again startled him. 

"Why the hell not?" Magus stated and strode over to the DuneRail. "We'll be borrowing this for a while," she shouted over to Devon. 

"Excuse me?" Devon said as Cameron trotted over and climbed into the passenger seat. "Where are you two going?" 

"We're going to check out that notch." Magus pointed vaguely in the direction that Cameron had indicated. "Cameron says he says we'll be able to find a quicker route through this mountain range if we can get a good view from above." 

"Wait, I didn't quite..." Cameron started, but Magus cut him off. 

"We should get started as soon as possible. We want to be back before dark. The DuneRail can do it and still recharge overnight. No problem" 

Devon stood, with her hands on her hips, then turned to Danziger who shrugged. She didn't like Magus' approach, but the plan was sound. On another day, in another time, she would have stopped them, but at that moment, she couldn't think of a good reason to keep them back. "All right," she said, "Just make sure you make a good survey when you get up there." 

"We're going too," Denner said suddenly, dragging Mazatl with her toward the DuneRail. She pushed the man into the nearest rear seat and the crawled over him to get into the last empty place. 

"Now, hang on there. We don't need all of you going on this little jaunt," Devon objected. 

Denner stopped and turned. "Oh please, we've been walking all day. We just want to take a little drive. The work's done for the day. What harm will it do?" Mazatl said nothing. He just cocked his head at Devon and gave her a hangdog expression. 

Devon sighed, "Okay, fine. Keep your GEAR handy. We don't want to lose touch with you." Devon watched as they turned the vehicle toward the dry creek that formed a pathway up the mountainside. Magus looked for Walman, who was standing now and looking a little perturbed about being left behind, but she just smiled and drove on. 

"Looks like you have a mini-mutiny going on here," Danziger said in a low voice. 

Devon watched as the four of them waved and the DuneRail headed away. "As long as it stays on the 'mini' side, I have no problems." 

* * * * 

Alonzo slipped into Julia's tent as she was setting up her equipment. "Hey there," he said, "How 'bout a walk in the meadow? We can take our shoes off and wade in the creek. I'd like to talk." 

Julia sighed, "I still have some work to do here. And I am rather worn out from walking for the day." 

"Well, we can still go down to the creek and dangle our feet in. It would be soothing to the souls." 

Julia smiled tiredly. "I'm not really up to it right now. I just want to stay put for now." 

"Okay, fine," Alonzo said dejectedly and left her tent. She looked up as he left and opened her mouth to speak, but he was gone before she could form the words to say. 

Alonzo walked over toward Walman who was standing with his arm akimbo, watching the DuneRail follow the bare track up the mountainside. "Women..." Alonzo said. 

Walman grunted in agreement. 

* * * * 

The DuneRail lurched and bounced its way up the mountainside. Magus fought the controls to keep it on the crude pathway. 

"Wow, look at the view!" Denner said, leaning across Mazatl. 

The man looked over the edge, "That's a long way down," he said simply. 

"Look at how little the TransRover is." Denner narrowed her eyes and held out her hand, as if to pick up the toy sized vehicle. "We're really climbing." 

Mazatl nodded, and leaned back into his seat, as Denner pressed against him. He smiled secretly to himself. 

"Don't you think you're going a little fast?" Cameron gripped the sides of the DuneRail fiercely as it rocked back and forth. 

"We want to make it to the notch and back before dark," Magus answered. "We're going to need to make good time." 

"Yeah, but we don't want to pitch ourselves down the mountainside now do we?" Cameron looked to the back seat for reinforcement, but Denner was entranced by looking over the edge, and Mazatl looked strangely suspicious. "Guys? Don't you think she'd better slow down a bit?" 

"Huh?" Denner pulled herself back into her seat. "Slow down? Why?" 

"To keep ourselves from getting smashed into tiny little bits," Cameron said frantically, and Magus just clucked her tongue. 

"I want to go faster," Denner said, "How much longer before we reach the notch?" 

"An hour, maybe two," Magus answered. 

"Two hours to reach the notch, that means another three to get back..." Cameron calculated, "You're cutting it awfully short. It'll be dusk pretty soon after that." 

"I'm not planning on taking three hours to get back." Magus grinned at him. "Downhill all the way." 

"Oh great," Cameron moaned. Mazatl pointed something out to Denner and she leaned over him again. 

****

True and Uly were rolling down the incline of the meadow. They were laughing and screaming and enjoying the warm fall day. "Race ya to that bush!" True challenged, and the two of them sped off. 

They were neck and neck until Uly found a sudden burst of speed and sprinted ahead to the small shrub. "Ha!" he shouted at her, "I'm faster than you are!" 

True scowled and leapt on him, tackling him to the ground. It was all in play, so she was rather surprised when Uly screamed. She quickly released him and stood above him while the boy clutched his bloody knee and yelled. 

Devon, Yale, Julia and her father all came running, all of them shouting. Devon scooped Uly up into her arms as Julia pulled on her DiaGlove and started scanning him. Yale crowded in close to comfort the boy and her father gave True 'that look.' 

They whisked the boy away, Devon speaking excitedly to Julia the whole time, "Is he all right? He's going to be all right isn't he?" True could not do anything but watch. 

* * * * 

"Did anyone bring anything to eat?" Denner said suddenly. "I'm suddenly hungry, suddenly ravenously hungry." 

Mazatl reached into his pocket and drew out two apples. 

"All right!" Denner grabbed one. "The rest of you will have to share the other one." 

"Hey!" Cameron turned around in the front seat, "Not fair." 

Mazatl protected the remaining apple. "Ah, I was the one who brought them." 

Cameron frowned and turned to Magus. "Don't you think they should share?" 

"Children, children..." Magus said with a sigh, "You don't want the driver to get too hungry. I might become disorientated and then you'll all be sorry. I may start to swerve and maybe pass out. My, that's a long drop, isn't it?" She held out her hand for the expected apple, while Cameron pulled out a jack-knife and brandished it at the occupants in the back seat. 

Denner glanced at Mazatl and shook her head. "They don't fight fair." She grabbed the knife from Cameron and cut the apples in half so that the each had something to eat and they noisily bit into the slices as the DuneRail continued up the mountain. Apples were still a novelty to them, and it was a special treat to eat them on their adventure. 

Denner leaned back and looked into the bright sky as the vehicle lurched back and forth. "This is nice," she said finally. "Don't you think it's kinda nice to get away from the others for a while?" 

Magus had to chuckle. "Yeah, I know. Sometimes I feel like I never get to have much of a say around the rest of them. I mean, the children have more input into the decisions than we do. Sometimes I wonder if they even know our full names." 

"Yeah," Cameron agreed, "It's almost as if we're the silent partners in this community." 

"Half the time, it's as if we're not even around." Denner commiserated. "Still, it's better than it used to be. At least we're getting noticed these days." 

"Poor Denner is feeling left out," Magus laughed. 

Cameron shook his head. "Oh, with you it's different, Magus. At least they always have time to listen to what you have to say. The rest of us..." he flung up his hands. "Don't you agree Mazatl?" 

Mazatl nodded and licked the apple juice from his fingers. 

Magus smirked. "Oh come on. It's not that bad anymore. Things have changed. We're not the nobodies that we used to be." 

"You're right," Denner agreed. "Still, I wish they would take more notice of us sometimes." She frowned at Mazatl and picked a stray piece of apple off his coat. 

* * * * 

True stood silently outside of the MedTent while Julia treated Uly's skinned knee. Devon held her son's hand and Danziger stood beside the woman, his hand on her shoulder. "It's just a skinned knee," True muttered, "He is such a baby." 

She stomped away from the MedTent and then spotted Morgan sitting at one of the collapsible tables, tinkering with something. She sat down beside him and watched silently for a moment. When he made no response to her presence she said "What'cha doing?" 

He jumped, startled, and then made an effort to hide the VR Gear that he was working on. "Nothing, nothing," he said quickly. 

"What's wrong with your VR?" she asked innocently. 

"Ah," he paused, trying to think up some sort of lie, but since she had already seen it, he supposed there was no sense in denying it. He had received so much grief from the others about his use of VR he didn't want anyone seeing him with it anymore. He pulled the VR out of his coat, "Well, it gets filled with dust all the time. I was trying to clean it out." He had the cover off the equipment and was using a tiny piece of cloth on a little stick to work the grains out of the electronics. "This equipment was never meant to be used outdoors for so long. It's always filling up with dust and sand." 

"You could probably do it better if you had a cotton swab," True commented. 

"Well, I don't have any cotton swabs so I have to use what I can find," Morgan muttered. "If I had one, I'd use it." 

True reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a swab and handed it to the liaison, who looked at is as if she had handed him a stick of gold. 

"Where did you get this?" he demanded. 

"Oh, Dad has a bunch of them stored way. We use them to clean out the electronics on the vehicles." 

Morgan snatched the swab out of True's hand. "Figures that he'd have them all to himself," he muttered as he put the tool to use. True realized that it wasn't worth responding to the last comment. She silently watched Morgan work, leaning up against his arm to get a better view. 

His first impulse was to snatch his arm away to keep the girl from leaning on him, but he saw the look of interest on her face, and he let her stay. "You see," he said, trying to sound instructional, "when all this dirt gets in here, your programs starts to degrade. It won't be quite as clear as before and you might have trouble accessing some of your programs." He was truly surprised that she remained to watch him work on the VR. He showed her each of the little tools he used, some of which he had pilfered, some he had fashioned out of bits of wire, and the few that he had brought with him. "And there," he snapped the cover back onto the system. "It is clean and ready to go again." 

"Could you clean out mine if I brought it over?" True asked brightly. 

"Okay, yeah. I guess," Morgan answered. 

"I'll get you some more cotton swabs." she smiled as she left the table. 

* * * * 

Baines, Walman and Alonzo took the TransRover to the creek and filled the water tanks. The water was cold and clear. It didn't take long to fill up and soon they were ready to be on their way again. 

"Hey Fly-Boy," Julia said, as she appeared from around the front of the vehicle. "I was wondering where you had gotten off to." 

"How's Uly?" Alonzo said as he secured the caps to the tanks. 

"He's fine. Just a scraped knee. His mother worries. I don't think she'll ever get over the fact that he's not a sick little boy anymore." 

"Glad he's okay." 

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I was just tired." She looked to Baines and Walman who were hanging around near the cab of the TransRover, "Why don't you two take the 'Rover back to camp? I'm sure Bess would like some water so that she can get dinner started." 

The two obediently climbed into the cab. "Women..." Walman muttered. 

"Lucky guy," Baines said quietly and he started up the vehicle and headed back toward the others. 

Julia watched the TransRover depart and then turned to Alonzo. "Does your offer still stand? Do you still want to dip your feet in the creek with me?" 

"Well, I don't know," Alonzo said playfully, "It seems as if it would be an awful lot of trouble." He sat down on a stone and looked up at the doctor. 

"I'll give you a hand," she said, as she helped him out of his boots. 

* * * * 

Denner leaned her head against Mazatl. The DuneRail lurched wickedly along the trail. Cameron watched Magus with some alarm as she careened the vehicle toward their target. "Please just get us there in one piece," he said to her. 

Magus laughed, "That's the plan." 

"What do you think we'll see when we get to Cameron's Notch?" Denner said dreamily. 

Cameron turned and looked at her. It sounded like she had named the notch after him and he liked the sound of it. "I bet we see the ocean," he said. "I bet it's out there, all stretched out and ready for us. We just have to go down one easy hill and we're there." 

Magus snorted, "I bet we see another mountain, and another, and another after that. We'll get ourselves so damned depressed that we spend the rest of the journey trying to ferment berry juice so that we can get ourselves stinking drunk. Ha! Hey, that sounds kinda good." She pondered the thought, "I say, more mountains and berry wine!" 

Denner smiled, "I think we'll find something new. It'll be totally different than anything we've seen before. I'm thinking it will be like a wonderful new world on the other side of the mountain." 

Magus snorted again and said, "Okay Mazatl, you got a firmer grasp on reality than these other idiots. What do you think we'll see?" 

Mazatl paused, "I don't know. I guess I hadn't thought about it. Should I have thought of something?"

The others laughed, "No, I expect not," Denner said, "We'll just have to wait until we get there." 

* * * * 

"Now, you should see a difference," Morgan said as he snapped on the back of True's VR. "I bet your colors were all off." 

"I really didn't notice. I haven't used it much lately." The girl held the VR carefully. "I've played all my programs about a million times. They get pretty old after a while." 

"Well, ah, I would know how to design a new one," Morgan said helpfully. 

"You would!" True was suddenly excited. "Could you make one with horses in it?" 

"Yeah, I suppose. Ah, what do you want to do with these horses?" 

"I want to have a herd of wild horses and I get to tame them." She watched as Morgan pulled out his keyboard. "They'll be all sorts of them. One will be all black and I'll call him Midnight. And there'll be a white one and her name will be Snowy. And, a brown one with white feet and a white star on his forehead and his name will be Star. Did you get that part? He has to have a white star." 

"Hold on, hold on. This takes a while." Morgan started keying in information. "We have to start with a setting. Where exactly do you want to tame all these horses?" 

True thought for a moment, this was an important decision. "Here in this meadow. Can you make it like this meadow." 

Morgan nodded and continued typing. "Yeah, I can do that. I'll just have to do an imaging of the meadow before we get too far along. I gotta get the outline started and we'll fill it in later." He looked up from the keyboard. "I would have thought you'd want something to do with cats." 

"Can I have a cat too? I want a cat." 

"All right, a cat. What kind of cat?" 

"A gray cat with a white face and white on his chest. And he should have extra toes." 

"Does he help you train the horses?" he asked sarcastically. 

"Can you do that?" 

Morgan looked up at her, not knowing whether or not to be exasperated. "You want a cat that trains horses?" 

"Well, he doesn't have to train them. But can you make it so he can ride horses?" 

"Sure, the cat rides horses." 

"And they'll be lots of baby horses too."

****

"There it is," Magus stated, as she stopped the DuneRail. The four riders climbed out, carefully onto the steep terrain. Before them was the notch in the mountain, Cameron's Notch. It had seemed like such a small thing from below, but from this perspective, the notch was huge.

The four of them walked the last few meters into the notch, to see what lay beyond it. They stood and stared. 

"Wow," Denner said reverently, looking out on a blanket of white. As far as the eye could see, the land on the other side of the mountain was shrouded in clouds. Thick puffy clouds that seemed so tangible, you would think you could walk out onto them. The sun, low in the sky, lit up the clouds so that they seemed to glow. "It's beautiful," she said. 

The others were silent as they gazed out at the nebulous world that greeted them. 

* * * * 

Walman, Baines and Yale headed over to where Bess was preparing their dinner. She smiled at their approach. "Don't tell me that you're hungry already." 

"Bored," Walman said shortly, and plopped down on the ground beside her. "Nothing to do. Might as well eat." 

"Be patient." Bess shook her head "I won't have it done for a couple hours yet". 

Baines grabbed one of the potatoes that were piled on her table, sending the others toppling to the ground. "Oops." 

"You!" She bent down to pick up one of the fallen vegetables and flung it at Baines. "Trouble maker." 

The vegetable hit him smack in the middle of his chest. Baines, startled, hefted his right at Bess. She caught it in time and flung it back at him. This time Baines was ready. He caught the vegetable and threw it at Walman. 

"Hey!" Walman shouted as the misthrown potato threw past him. He frowned at Baines. "You throw like a girl." And then another flying tuber hit him from behind. He turned around to see Yale laughing. "I can't believe you did that. That hurt!" 

"Hot Potato!" shouted Bess, who picked up another one of the poor potatoes off the ground and flung it at Yale. 

* * * * 

"Do you think we should check in with the others?" Cameron finally asked. 

Magus looked around, "You got your GEAR handy Mazatl, why don't you call." 

Mazatl shrugged and turned on his equipment. 

"It's so incredible. It's like we're on the edge of the world," Denner said softly, still gazing out to the west. 

"There could be anything under those clouds," Magus said, "mountains, terrible rivers, deserts, endless forests..." 

"The ocean!" Cameron added. 

Denner turned to Mazatl and noticed the puzzled look on his face. "What is it?" 

"I don't know. I think..." and he paused to listen again. "I'm not sure." 

"Come on, out with it, what do you have there," Magus said impatiently. 

Mazatl listened again. "It might be the CommDish." 

"Are you sure?" Cameron said quickly. 

Mazatl sat down at the edge of the notch and put his hands against his GEAR as if that would improve the reception. "I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure it's the CommDish." 

The Cameron pulled on his GEAR and the women ran to the DuneRail to retrieve theirs. They rejoined the men at the edge, listening to the sound. The constant inquisitive pattern continued. The CommDish, which had been dropped to the planet's surface all those months ago, almost two years ago. The CommDish would mark the site of New Pacifica, their destination. They sat on the edge of the world and listened. The signal was like a song to them, like a heartbeat. 

* * * * 

"You feeling better honey?" Devon asked Uly as he pulled on the bandage. 

"I'm fine, Mom," the boy answered. "Can I go back out and play with True?" 

"No, you should probably stay put. Julia says the wound will heal quicker if don't move your leg for a while." 

"But I want to go out and play!" Uly insisted. 

Devon sighed, "No, you should just sit still for a little while. You'll feel better tomorrow if you do." When she saw the boy's disappointment, she amended her statement, "I don't see why you can't go outside though." She lifted him and carried the boy over to the table. He was getting so big now. She used to be able to carry him with ease, but now, she was winded by the time she reached the table where True and Morgan were sitting. She settled him in and then spoke sharply to Morgan, "Make sure he stays put." And she headed off to speak to Danziger. 

Morgan and True looked at each other and rolled their eyes. 

"Whatcha doing?" Uly asked. 

"Writing a VR program," True said with a sophisticated tone. She turned to Morgan. "Can you make it so there's always a rainbow in the sky?" 

"But you wanted sunshine all the time. You need rain for rainbows." 

"Not in VR." 

"All right, sure, rainbows." 

"This is boring," Uly grumbled. 

"He's just a child, he doesn't understand," True said to Morgan. "Don't forget that my house is supposed to be pink with white shutters." Morgan just nodded and continued to input data. 

Uly watched, trying to feign disinterest as the two collaborated of the program. "Hey," he said after several minutes. Morgan and True both fixed him with the same withering glance. "Do you think maybe you could add some Cowboys and Indians to the program?" Uly asked. 

"Cowboys..." Morgan sighed. 

"Indians..." True added, shaking her head tiredly. She sat with her head in her hands, and then looked up at Morgan, "Okay, what if we did add Cowboys and Indians..." 

Morgan looked from True to Uly, as Uly crowded up against his other side. "Oh no, I'm surrounded." 

* * * * 

Alonzo looked long and hard at Julia. "I was thinking..." He glanced away from her as he started to speak. "Yeah, I was thinking..." 

Julia smiled and looked at him in anticipation, "About what?" 

"I was just thinking about how nice the Martin wedding was. You know, how they got married for life and all." His eyes were on his feet, which he splashed slowly in the water. "I thought that was nice." 

"Yes, it was. It was very special." Julia spoke slowly, wondering at the significance of Alonzo's statement. 

"That's what I thought." They were quiet again for a while, and then Alonzo spoke again. "And I was thinking..." he drifted off, seeming to be fascinated with his feet moving in the water. 

"Alonzo, what are you trying to say?" Julia asked. 

He turned to her finally and spoke quickly, "I was thinking that we could do the same. I mean, we SHOULD do the same." He was flustered when he saw Julia's eyes open wide. "We could get married too, you know, for life and everything?" 

Her heart leapt. "Married?" she whispered. "For life?" 

"And everything." Alonzo added seriously. 

She felt numb. She felt elated. She felt hot and cold at the same time. She turned to him slowly and looked into his dark eyes. "Alonzo... I..." 

"Yes, what?" He grasped her by her arms, "What do you say Julia? I know you've been thinking about it. I know I have. So what do you say? I love you more than I can say. I love you more than anything. I am only happy when we're together. We should be together forever. You and me, forever." 

"Alonzo, I..." she saw only his eyes, his dark deep eyes. 

Alonzo climbed out of the creek, not letting go of Julia, and then sunk down to one knee, "Julia Heller, will you marry me?" 

Julia smiled, wrinkling her perfect little nose, "You crazy fly-boy, of course I will."

And the two embraced at the side of the creek. 

* * * * 

Devon and Danziger sat beside each other at the side of the TransRover, saying nothing. They let the late autumn sun warm them. Danziger had to admit that he was glad they had stopped early today. He moved his hand slightly closer to Devon, and glanced over to her. She sat with her head back, her eyes closed, looking comfortable and happy. It was a rare thing to see her so relaxed, especially so soon after Uly had been hurt. The boy was fine, and she was fine too. 

* * * * 

Baines hefted the potato at Walman, who dove to the ground to get away. Bess scooped up the vegetable and thwacked Yale in the chest with it. "Score!" she shouted as she ran past. 

* * * * 

"And there'll be this giant slide!" Uly said 

"Yeah, and it will end up in this great big pool." Interjected True. 

"Oh yes, a water slide!" Uly was almost climbing onto Morgan in his excitement. 

"Calm down! Calm down! You know this is going to take forever to program. Geez, look at the outline. How do you kids figure I'm going to get all of this done." Morgan groused. 

"You can do it." True said, "We believe in you." and Uly nodded in agreement. 

* * * * 

Zero strode out into the middle of the camp. His duties for the day were over and now he was pretty much ignored. He turned his attention to the doctor and the pilot, near the stream, and wondered if they were in trouble because they seemed to be applying some sort of medical attention to each other. He had seen that sort of thing before though and had been told to ignore it. 

He then noticed that the two juveniles were bothering the liaison, something he had been told (by the liaison) to stop at all costs. He considered approaching the juveniles and drawing them away from the liaison, but for some reason the liaison did not seem to mind their presence. Zero decided to leave things alone. 

Their leader and the mechanic were just sitting, doing nothing at all, which seemed peculiar to him. The cyborg and three of the others had gone insane and were throwing their sustenance around. He decided that was a bad idea. He knew that four of the group had left. He hoped they would return soon. The missing four were the most balanced of the group, in his opinion at least. 

Humans were odd creatures. He knew that. He accepted that. It was part of his makeup to accept that sort of thing. When a potato crashed into is cranium, he knew that he should not feel mortified. He was a Mechanical Worker and shouldn't feel emotions, and of course these humans meant him no harm. They were running up to him now, pounding him good naturedly on his back (at least he thought it was good natured, he was never sure of that sort of thing). All in all, it wasn't too bad. At least they noticed him. 

* * * * 

Danziger glanced over to the mountains and tried again to spot the DuneRail and its occupants. He pulled out the jumpers and scanned their path without any luck. It wasn't until he examined the very top of the trail that he saw the reflection of the vehicle. "Hey," he said, "They made it. They're all the way up there." 

"I wonder what they see." Devon said. 

* * * * 

The four travelers stood together in a tight group. To the east lay the green meadow and everything that they had traveled through. To the west, where everything was white and bright, and unseen, lay New Pacifica. They stood on the line that divided G899. They were so close to their destination that they could hear it. 

Cameron looked from Denner, to Magus, to Mazatl. They all had the same rapt look on their faces. They were the first ones to hear it. From now on, reaching their goal wasn't just a dream. From now on it was real. 

****

THE END 

* * *

__

Okay, here you go. This story, as was written for those poor undeveloped minor characters. I always felt that it was a shame that they never really gave these folks anything to do on the show. So now here they are, walking, talking, telling jokes and having fun.

Tell me what you think. I hope I didn't just rob you of another hour (or so) of your life? Let me know either way. .

[Comments Welcome][1]

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	6. The Ocean, Dark and Bright

__

This story is based on the TV show, Earth 2. All of the characters belong to this show and I do not mean to infringe on anything. Believe me on this one! This story takes place after the end of the series. And, it continues the saga that I began with my other stories. It would probably be best if you read them first, but this story can stand on its own.

As the title says, this story is about what happens when they finally reach the Ocean. Good and bad can happen at the same time.

****

The Ocean - Dark and Light 

* * *

It was inevitable that Eden Advance would someday reach the sea. But it had been much further away than anyone could have believed. When they first left the space stations, it had seemed that only a period of ColdSleep separated them from their goal, but things changed radically for them with the explosion on the Roanoke. They survived the crash, and counted themselves lucky, but there was so much between them and their destination. There had been more obstacles than imagined. Every time the signs pointed to a quick and easy route, something was thrown in their way. Mountains were higher than expected; vegetation was too thick to move through easily; water wasn't available; vehicles broke down; snow impeded them; the unexpected happened. An easy one-day stretch could be distorted into weeks if the odds were against them. They had faced the deaths of O'Neil, Eben, and others. They continued on, feeling a patch of darkness descend on them, but realizing that their own survival had become even more precious. They had traveled through desert and forest, through mountains and valleys, over rivers and road, through sickness, despair and joy. Now after twenty-two years asleep, four months trapped at their WinterCamp, another three months waiting for Devon's cure and recovery, and over a year of solid traveling, they had finally reached the end of the earth. 

They were together when the crested the high dune in the early afternoon. The sight that met them was wondrous. A white-sand beach stretched in both directions as far as the eye could see, and the undulating water seemed to reach out into forever. The surf was harsh, the waves were high and violent. The water, under the patchy sky, seemed alive as it thrashed against the shore. The sun, catching the surface, turned the waves green and blue, black and white, dark and light. 

They pulled their tattered coats closer as the cool, moist wind hit them. They had pictured a tropical paradise, and in fact the trees around them looked vaguely like the palm trees of earth, but they must have been a much more hardy variety. The early winter winds buffeted and swayed the tall trees, which moved back and forth in the wind like exotic dancers. 

The DuneRail, with Baines and Cameron, sped ahead of the others, proving true to its name, and easily tackling the shifting dune. The ATV kicked up a cloud of sand as it followed, with Magus whooping as the vehicle almost tipped over, but she expertly righted it before it spilled. Walman caught up to her on foot. "I want to try that!" he said before she took off toward the water. The others on foot hurried to catch up. 

The TransRover came last, lumbering over the difficult terrain. The three vehicles met at the base of the dunes and a great cheer went up. People were shouting and talking at the same time, creating such a din that nobody could understand a word. Uly and True were leaping into the air, as if trying to fly like the seabirds that hung in the air above them. Walman pulled Magus from the ATV and spun her wildly. She tripped him up and they ended up sprawled on the sand. Yale flung back his arms and shouted into the roar of the ocean. 

Baines and Cameron abandoned the DuneRail, kicked off their boots, rolled up their pant-lets, and ran out into the surf, followed close behind by Magus, Walman and the children. "Be careful!" Danziger and Devon shouted, almost in unison. True and Uly slacked their pace only long enough to turn around and wave, then they were off with the others. The cold water hit them like a brick, making the group gasp and then laugh as they ran about in the ebb and flow. Danziger pulled Devon close to him and the two of them looked out into the waves. 

Mazatl stepped slowly down from the TransRover and leaned for a moment against it, carefully cradling his right hand against himself. Denner patted him gently on the back. "How ya feeling, Maz'?" she asked. 

He shrugged, "It's not so bad. Just throbs a bit now and then." His coat fluttered around him, and he tried in vain to stop its movement. 

"This looks like a good place," Alonzo said, indicating a pile of driftwood that formed a convenient windbreak. He stood in the midst of it. "Looks like there'll be enough room here and everything. I think it will work just fine." 

Julia nodded nervously, "Yes, it will have to do." Alonzo and Julia, along with Bess and Yale, helped Morgan down from the hammock they had rigged up to the other side of the TransRover. "Ow! Careful! Careful!" Morgan complained they lowered him down. "No, no, this is no good. This isn't going to work. Just leave me up there." 

"Come on," Alonzo said, "Remember, we said that we'd get you down once we got to the beach. You've been complaining for days now about being up there." 

"What? You're doing what I'm asking now? You picked a fine time to start doing that! Ow! I mean it, be careful! Okay! Watch the leg!" A splint had been constructed around the length of his left leg, and he awkwardly tried to protect it during the move. 

"It's okay, Honey," Bess said, as she strained to help support her portion of his weight, "We'll get you settled down in no time." 

"Hurry then," Morgan moaned. 

Between the four of them, they managed to move Morgan the short distance into the windbreak, where Mazatl was sitting on one of the logs. Denner sat beside Mazatl, with her hand against his forehead. "I don't think he has a fever," she said hopefully to Julia who was watching the move. 

"That's good," Julia said evenly. She set her bag nearby. "I better change the bandage again." Carefully, she removed the makeshift bandages from the man's hand to reveal the deep cut across his palm. She had stitched the wound back together, and had done her best to keep it clean, but the infection was getting worse. Carefully, she cleaned the wound again. Mazatl grimaced at the process but said nothing. Then, methodically, she rewrapped the hand in new bandages and threw the old into a pile so that they could be boiled, dried, and reused later. Everything was at a premium these days, even rags. All cloth was becoming scarce. Nobody had more than a few changes of clothing from the start, and after so many months of wear, everyone was looking a little threadbare. 

"It's okay, isn't it?" Mazatl asked innocently. "It doesn't really hurt that much. I know it's getting better" 

Julia met his watery eyes and wondered if Denner had been correct about the fever. He looked flushed. She laid her hand gently on his dry forehead. Denner was wrong. "You'll be okay. Once we get those medical supplies, you'll be just fine." 

"What about me?" Morgan said. "It's really starting to hurt like crazy. Can't you do anything else then string me up in this contraption? This splint of yours is really starting to bite into me here and here, and down in this area here, and these bands are too tight. I don't think I'm getting any circulation to my toes." 

Julia sighed tiredly and checked the fittings on the splint. "It has to be kept tight. We have to keep your knee immobile until I can perform surgery on it." 

"Yeah, but can't you do anything about it now?" He lowered his voice to a low whine, "My knee really hurts, Julia. It's making me crazy. I'll do anything you say." 

Julia nodded numbly. "As soon as we find those CargoPods I'll take care of both of you." 

She walked slowly away to where Devon and Danziger were standing. "I can't take this," she said to them. "I just can't take it. We have to find those supplies now." 

"I've finally got the signals pinpointed." Danziger looked to Devon. "Devon and I will leave immediately. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two to reach the pods." 

Julia nodded and stared at the windbreak, where Bess and Denner were trying to cheer up the two injured members of their crew. 

"It's not your fault," Devon said purposefully. "Julia, you have to realize that it's not your fault." 

"Then whose is it? I'm the one who packs the medical supplies. I'm the one who always has to secure them on the TransRover; that always insists that the crates be kept to the outside. I'm the one who didn't secure the straps! Why did I throw my MedKit in there at the last minute...the damned DiaGlove with it? I should have kept it with me. I should always have the MedKit with me. I did everything wrong." 

"Look, there's nothing we can do about it now," Danziger stated. "The supplies are gone. We can't retrieve them. The ravine was too deep. And there is no fault to place on anyone." 

"Besides, we'll reach the CargoPods very soon. We'll just have to make due without a DiaGlove and all for just a little while longer." Devon continued, "So if we had to lose the supplies, at least it happened at a convenient time." 

"Convenient for whom?" Julia thought to herself as watched the occupants of the windbreak. Early yesterday morning, Morgan had managed to trip over an inconsequential rock and destroy what was left of his already damaged knee. If she had her DiaGlove and a surgical kit she might be able to restore him to mobility, but without even simple pain blockers, the best she could do was to keep him as still as possible. Two days ago, Mazatl had deeply sliced the palm of his hand on a broken tin that they had been using to collect rainwater. With all her equipment she would be able to repair the cut tendons, but now a stubborn infection had set in. She could keep the wound clean and dry, but little else. Some doctor she had turned out to be. Take away her modern toys and she was helpless. 

Still, what Devon had said was true. They were only about an hour away from the CargoPods now. If this had happened anywhere else on their journey, Julia would have had to experiment with local plants, something she was afraid to do without her analytical equipment. So at least, the remedies were at arm's reach now. Mazatl had been fine up until this morning when his hand had taken a turn for the worse. He could hold out for a few more hours. Keeping Morgan still for the past two days had been difficult. The hammock simplified things in some ways by smoothing out the bumps, but it isolated him too much. Since he couldn't see anyone from his perch, high up on the TransRover, he had taken to shouting almost constantly for someone to talk to him and had managed to work himself into a panic more than once. Julia figured that since they had finally reached the beach, it would be better to have him down at their level. The previous evening they had considered sending a search party ahead, but nobody wanted to be left behind when they were so close. Reaching the ocean had been a goal too enticing to delay. 

Devon called a quick meeting. The group gathered around the windbreak. "Okay, we made it," she said and looked at the faces of her group. "We made it to the Sea of Antius. We should be at the CommDish tomorrow. Danziger and I are going to raid some of our CargoPods that are just up the beach. We'll get some much needed supplies, come back, get Morgan and Mazatl here ready for the last push, and then tomorrow, we will all be at our destination." 

Everyone was silent, realizing what these words meant. They were almost home. 

Devon smiled tightly. "Don't bother setting up camp until we get back. It shouldn't take that long." 

Danziger climbed into the ATV. "We'll see you in a couple hours," he said as Devon climbed onto the back. He glanced to Mazatl and Morgan; they both looked at him with the same expectant expression. "It won't be long," he assured them. "You won't even have time to miss us." Then they took off down the beach. 

The others watched them go, envious that Devon and John would be that much closer to their destination. Baines and Walman set off to gather driftwood for a fire. Julia filled a pot with fresh water and prepared to sterilize the materials she had used that day. The others set about on that impossible task of waiting one more day. 

The children finally lured Bess and Denner down to the water. Uly ran back and forth along the rolling edge of the water, chasing the light colored birds into the air. True spoke seriously to Bess, "They're going to find the stuff Julia needs, you know." The wind gusted against her head, and she had trouble pulling the loose ends of her hair away from her face. "My dad is very good at that sort of thing. They will find everything we need." 

Bess nodded, "Yes, that's what I'm hoping." 

"They'll find medical supplies and all the stuff we need to start building. I bet they'll even find us some new clothes." True watched Uly run, yet remained near Bess and Denner. "And everything is going to be just fine." She turned her attention to the windbreak. Mazatl was standing beside the pile of driftwood now, looking out into the surf. She could tell that Morgan was muttering and complaining to himself. "They'll be just fine, I'm sure of it." Bess turned to Denner and the two of them were silent. 

**** 

Alonzo wandered nonchalantly over to Julia. "So, are you ready?" he asked her as she stooped over the fire. 

"What?" she didn't look up from her work. 

"Are you ready for our wedding, once we reach our new home?" They had not settled on a name for their destination yet. Ever since they first heard the signal from the CommDish, they had been referring to all the land to the west of the mountains as New Pacifica. It wasn't a small confined space, it occupied the entire area where the sound could be heard. 

"Oh," she stopped what she was doing, and looked confused for a moment, "I'm sorry, I haven't been thinking much about that lately. I have too much on my mind." She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, and then she noticed Alonzo's disappointment. "Oh Alonzo, you know that I am ready. Let's just get through this crisis. Once I can get those two put back together I will be able to get my mind back on something as wonderful as that." 

"I'm counting the minutes," he said and smiled. 

**** 

The ATV hopped and skittered across the dunes as Danziger drove onward. Devon looked out at the waves and a calmness fell over her. They had made it. They were nearly at their destination, and only a short distance from the CargoPods. The last few days had been very trying for all of them, but now, with the wind in her hair and the sea at her side, Devon allowed herself to feel a tiny amount of relief and satisfaction. They had picked up the signals from eight pods on their GEAR. They would have all the medical supplies they needed, all the equipment to build a city and create a new home. 

She tried to picture her old quarters on the space station, but could only come up with a foggy memory of colors and angles and harsh shapes. It was almost as if she had never lived there at all, as if it were only a story someone had told her. 

She watched the waves play and crash, endless and formless, stretching out to the horizon, and then reached down to touch Danziger on the shoulder. He turned to see her and returned the smile. "We're almost there," he said. She nodded, yes almost there. 

**** 

Most of the Advancers had headed up the beach to the protection of the dunes. The brisk weather had made the water's edge unpleasant. Only Uly, Cameron and Alonzo still skirted the water in bare feet. "Sissies!" Cameron was yelling at the others. "Come on back here! What? You afraid of a little cold water? What are you made of? Come on, you big fat babies!" 

Walman and Baines made crude gestures at them from the lea of the TransRover. Magus laughed. She was working on digging out a pit for the campfire. She stood up and set the shovel on her shoulder when she heard Cameron shouting. "Look at those idiots," she smirked. 

"Raving lunatics," Walman said as he pulled on a pair of heavy-duty gloves and started digging into the sand to help Magus. 

"What's the deal with the gloves?" Baines asked skeptically. 

"He doesn't want to break his dainty fingernails," Magus said. 

"Dainty?" Walman snorted, "I'll show you dainty!" He didn't get a chance to demonstrate what he meant. They stopped talking when they heard Alonzo's shout. 

"Ow! Damn it!" Their pilot fell onto his back, in the wet sand, clutching his foot. 

Julia, her face taunt, and the others came running. "Oh god, Alonzo, what's wrong?" 

"I don't know. I stepped on that wobbling thing, and the next thing I know, it stung my foot. Geez!" Alonzo massaged his foot vigorously, "Wait, it stopped hurting. Hey, I can't feel it at all now!" He thumped on his bare foot with his fist and shook his head. "It's like my whole foot's gone completely numb." 

Baines and Walman dragged him up onto the dry sand where Julia examined the injured foot. Cameron used a stick to poke at the gelatinous substance that Alonzo had stepped into. "I can't see anything wrong." Julia sighed, "I don't see a puncture wound, or a bite." She shook her head, "Do you know what happened?" Her voice and her face were equally strained. 

"First it just hurt," Alonzo commented. "I guess it was like a shock, some sort of electric shock. Now, it's nothing." He paused, and then said with wonder, "My whole leg is getting numb." He ran his finger along his leg up to his hip. "There, I can feel that. It ends right at my hip." He shook his head, dumbfounded. "What a stupid thing to do." 

Cameron joined them. "I think it's a kind of jellyfish. Some of the Earth jellyfish were capable of producing a painful sting." 

Yale nodded, "At least on Earth, a single sting from a jellyfish is not lethal. Of course," he gestured to Alonzo, "A single sting would not have paralyzed a man's leg." 

"It's not exactly paralyzed," Alonzo said quickly, "It's just a numb as a dead fish." 

Cameron and Yale helped Alonzo, past Mazatl, and into the driftwood windbreak. Mazatl leaned against the logs and asked, "Are you okay? How ya feeling, huh?" 

"It doesn't even hurt," Alonzo said simply. 

"Good for you," Morgan grumbled. "Welcome to the invalid pit." 

Julia sat beside Alonzo, and ran her hand slowly along his face. She said nothing for a minute, and just looked into his eyes. "Oh Alonzo, I'm sorry." 

He grasped her hands gently and said, "I'm okay, Julia, it's nothing." 

"You don't know that. I certainly don't know that. Why did this have to happen now? I have no way to treat you, no way of even knowing what's wrong with you." 

"It's going to be all right, Julia. Everything is going to be fine." 

She nodded and abruptly stood. Morgan was watching them critically, "Yeah," he said sarcastically, "Everything is going to be terrific." Julia noted that he was looking a little pale. Mazatl was also keeping an eye on them, leaning against the logs and swaying slightly. 

She shook her head and briskly walked away. "I can't believe it. What's happening? Everything's falling apart." 

**** 

"Here we go! This should be it," Devon said excitedly. The ATV bounced and jostled over the wavy surface of the sand. "Just over that rise. It looks like all the CargoPods are together. It'll be just like Christmas!" 

Danziger grinned as he pushed the ATV for a last burst of speed as it crested the hill that separated them from the CargoPods. He stopped the vehicle almost immediately. Silently the two of them looked down into the rock cove. 

"No, no, no..." Devon said quietly. "Oh, no..." Twisted and bent shards of metal littered the wide area. She stepped out of the ATV and started scaling down the rough sides of the cove. When she reached to bottom she stumbled for the first strip of metal. Pitted, and bent, it was unmistakably the remnant of a CargoPod. 

****

"I'm going for a walk," Mazatl said suddenly, and started moving away from the vehicle. 

"Good for you," Morgan muttered, watching him walk away somewhat unsteadily. Morgan tried to adjust the splint to get his leg into a more comfortable position, but stopped quickly. "Yeah, good for you." 

"Hey, Morgan, got a minute?" Alonzo asked. 

He rolled his eyes."Does it look like I'm going anywhere?" 

Alonzo massaged his numb foot as he spoke, "It's kinda important. You know, about Julia and me, and the wedding and all." 

"What, you thinking about calling it off?" 

"No, no, not that. I can hardly wait 'til we reach the CommDish. I want to hold the ceremony as soon as we get there." 

"Oh, you want to borrow my VR program? I think that everyone really liked it at my wedding." 

Alonzo shrugged. "I dunno. I was thinking we would just keep it natural. You know, we're waiting until we reach a certain place. It would be kinda stupid to go into VR." 

"Oh," Morgan said bitterly, "Sorry I offered. I guess you're idea is so much better than anything Morgan Martin could ever come up with." 

"No, that's not what I meant." He stretched his leg out and frowned. "Look," he whispered, "I'm looking for advice about the honeymoon." 

Morgan's eyes grew wide. "Well, 'Lonz, there are birds and there are bees . . ." 

"Will you stop it!" Alonzo said between his teeth, as Morgan stifled a laugh, "I want to make this special for her. This isn't going to be one of those four-year commitments. We're going full-term, life-long, just like you and Bess, and I want to make the night something she'll always remember. What did you do with Bess?" He frowned as Morgan started to laugh again, "Come on, you know what I mean." 

"Sorry," Morgan said, as he steadied the splint to keep it from shaking with his laughter. He hadn't felt like laughing much lately. He stopped suddenly when the vibration became too much. "Geez," he gasped, "When's Devon and Danziger going to be back? I bet they're just relaxing somewhere, not even thinking about me and the rest of us. Danziger has always had it in for me." 

"Oh, they'll get here, don't worry about that." He looked at Morgan with some concern. "You doing okay?" 

"Oh yeah sure. I got nothing left of my knee and no pain blockers. I'm feeling fine." 

"I know what you mean. I was kinda in the same boat for a while, remember. I had a broken leg when we landed." Alonzo tried to sound light-hearted, "And look at me now! Just call me Rubber-Man!" 

"It's not the same," Morgan said glumly. 

Alonzo, knowing that there was nothing more he could say about that, continued with his original tack, "So, tell me, what did you do to make the honeymoon special?" 

"Okay, well," Morgan breathed deeply, as if he was trying to collect himself. "Are you talking about our original marriage or our recommitment?" 

"Both ... any ... I don't know, whatever." 

"Well, the first time we married, we had this great reception on Platform 197B. I had spent everything I had just getting Bess up to the stations, but I was still able to put together a pretty good party. I went into debt for over a year, but it was worth it. We had waiters in white suits carrying around these very expensive trays of hors d'oeuvres and this band that . . ." 

"Well, that's not going to work here." 

"Wait, I'm getting to the good part. Okay, well, after the reception we went back to our quarters. I had the place cleaned during the day and the lighting set to 30%. I rented four floral displays and had them in each corner of the room. Then I bought a packet of faux-petals and scattered them over the bed. Very sexy. Women like that sort of thing." 

"We haven't seen any flowers since we left the mountain meadow. None of that helps me any. What did you do here, when you remarried." 

"Okay, well, let me think, you know we pitched our tent away from the rest of you. And then I toned down the lighting by throwing a shirt over the lumalights. That works pretty good, especially if you can get something with a little color in it. It wasn't exactly 30% but it was pretty good." The two continued their conversation in secretive tones. From time to time Alonzo looked up to make sure that Julia wasn't watching. 

**** 

Julia sat quietly by herself, thinking about what was going on. Now even Alonzo was hurt. She tried to think of their upcoming marriage, but was continually brought back to the fact that he was injured and there was nothing she could do about it. The waiting was the worst part. Any moment now Devon and Danziger would be contacting them and giving them the good news. She kept her GEAR ready for the moment when they made contact. 

She could see Alonzo and Morgan talking quietly together. From time-to-time, they would look at her and then glance away quickly. They were obviously talking about her and probably how she had failed them. Mazatl had wandered over to where the fire pit was still under construction. She would have to go over in a little while to check up on him. 

Julia sighed and looked out into the crashing waves. She would only have to wait a little while longer now. Everything was going to be okay. 

**** 

Mazatl walked over to where Denner, Bess and Magus were working in the fire-pit. The rest of the group was gathering stones and logs to line the pit. "Bunny!" Denner shouted and ran over to him, "Now, what did Julia say about you walking around. Didn't she tell you to keep still?" She threw a blanket around his shoulders and tugged it tight. 

Magus looked over at Bess and laughed, "Was it my imagination or does Denner have a pet-name for our boy Mazatl?" 

Mazatl looked sheepishly at the women. "I wanted to look around a bit. You can get tired of sitting all the time." 

"Well, you sit right here with us." Denner sat him down with a thump on a convenient log. "I don't care if you're tired of it, you going to keep still." 

"Sure is nice here, sure is nice," he said quietly. "Pretty nice. Good to be here, you know. Good to finally make it. Yeah, it's good." 

"Glad to see you're feeling better," Magus said as she went back to arranging the driftwood into a more convenient layout. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Bess asked tentatively. 

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine... just fine." 

"How's Morgan doing?" Bess asked. 

"Oh, he complains all the time," Mazatl said sharply, throwing off the blanket, "But you know about that now don't you." The three women looked at him strangely. Then, he stood suddenly and paced around the pit. "We should be getting moving again shouldn't we? We're just a klick or two away. Why shouldn't we just get moving again? We should get on the move. Better get moving. Yeah, that would be best. Let's load on up and get on our way. We can just leave Morgan and 'Lonz for now. They'll catch up later." 

"Maz?" Denner held her hand against his brow again and frowned. She looked up at Bess who immediately took off in Julia's direction. "You really should sit down." 

"It's okay, really okay, okay? I've been sitting for two days now. It's time to move, okay? Magus, get everyone together and let's get on our way. Come on!" He pulled Denner with him down the beach. "Come on everyone, let's go!" he shouted, "Get the lead out!" 

Denner dug in her heels to try to slow him down, but it was to no avail, the sandy soil offered no resistance. The others on the beach looked up in disbelief at Mazatl as he strode down the beach with Denner in tow. They had never heard him raise his voice the entire time they had known him. 

Julia and Cameron had to run to catch up with them. "Mazatl!" Julia cried when she reached him. "Slow down! Hold on a minute." 

"It's time we got moving again," Mazatl said quickly. "Let's go!" he yelled toward the others, signaling wildly with his good arm, "Load 'em up! Move 'em out!" 

"Mazatl!" Julia said again, grabbing him firmly. "Stop!" His skin was hot to the touch. She turned to the cluster of people standing nearby. "Baines! Give me a hand!" And she turned back to Mazatl "You're sick. You are going to need to stay quiet. Stay with Morgan and Alonzo, and wait until Devon and Danziger come back with the supplies. They must be there by now. It won't be much longer." 

"I think we should go," he said simply. Baines grabbed him by one arm, and together with Julia, they guided him back to where Morgan and Alonzo were sitting within the pile of driftwood. Mazatl shook his head. "I'm ready to get going right now. We're just wasting time." 

"It's time for you to sit down and keep yourself still for a while. Do you understand me?" 

Mazatl looked sadly at the windbreak. "But I don't want to." 

"Get in here," Morgan growled at him, now that they were close. "Stop messing around and get in with the rest of us." 

"It's not going to do any good," Mazatl said forlornly. 

"It will be a heck of a lot better than you running around the beach like a fool," Morgan answered. 

**** 

Danziger and Devon went through the pile of debris, turning over large slabs of metal and bits of unrecognizable equipment pieces. They dug into the wet sand until they found what they were looking for, the transmitter. Danziger looked at it dully, and then back to Devon. 

"What happened? Grendlers didn't do this. Who could have done this?" she asked sadly. 

Danziger surveyed the area. It was filled with the shattered remains of the pods, half-sunken into the watery sand, and piles of bleached and battered logs. "The CargoPods must have fallen into the ocean," he concluded. "This area is probably like some sort of a funnel. Everything in the ocean ends up here." 

Devon sighed and put on her GEAR. "Julia," she said sharply. 

Julia appeared almost immediately. Her hopeful look fell as soon as she saw Devon. "What is it? Didn't you find the CargoPods?" 

"We found the pods. They've been destroyed. We figure they fell into the ocean and were ripped apart in the tide. How are Mazatl and Morgan doing?" 

"They're not any better. And now Alonzo... I don't know, he's probably okay but he needs medical attention too. You did get the supplies we needed, didn't you?" Julia pressed. 

"What? What happened to Alonzo?" Devon felt a panic rise in her. Alonzo too? 

"He received a shock from some sort of jellyfish. I have him with the other two right now. Devon, you have to find something. Anything! I need my equipment!" 

Devon thought about the hopeless stretch of tossed driftwood, mixed in with the flotsam and jetsam of their CargoPods. "We're going to need some help. It's going to take us a while to sort through all of this." 

"I'll get a group together," Julia said. She switched off her GEAR and turned to the others. "We need to send a group over to where Devon and Danziger are. The supplies are scattered." 

"Do we take the DuneRail?" Magus asked. 

"No. I want to keep that here with us. Get a party together and take the TransRover. Zero is still loaded up on it. Make good use of him." 

Magus signaled to the others, "Okay, who's coming?" 

Baines, Cameron and Walman immediately climbed onto the huge vehicle. The children started to follow, but Julia held them back. "I want you two to stay here. It could be dangerous with all the debris over there." 

Bess leaned over Morgan and kissed him. "I won't be gone long, Honey," she whispered to him. 

"Bess? You can't go. I need you," Morgan said pitifully. "Don't leave me behind. Please stay." 

"I'll do more good looking for the supplies than I will standing here holding your hand," she said confidently. "I'll see you in a bit. I promise." She held his hand for a moment longer. "Miss me terribly while I'm gone, okay?" 

"I always do," Morgan mumbled, and with that, she kissed him again and headed off to the TransRover. 

Denner watched her go, and then turned to Mazatl. "Yeah, like she said," and she followed Bess. 

Yale watched the others board the TransRover. "I'll stay with you," he said to Julia. "You may need some help." They watched the TransRover take off quickly down the beach, with their fellow Advancers holding onto the back of the vehicle when there wasn't any more free space to sit. 

Julia rubbed her worn sleeve across her eyes. She was trying not to cry. It had been so long since she cried. She looked back to the windbreak where three people were now incapacitated and there was nothing she could do for them. Yale took her by the arm and guided her a few meters away from the others, "Julia," he said in a low voice, "I need you to do something very important right now." He paused, and waited for her to nod. "I need you to stop feeling sorry for yourself and to come up with another solution." 

"What?" She looked at the tutor, startled at his comment. 

"You have been kicking yourself over this since we lost the medical supplies. You decided to just keep kicking yourself until we found something to replace the items that were lost. It looks like that may never happen now." 

Julia shook her head. "No, they will find something. At least a SedaDerm." 

Yale quietly replied, "But they may find nothing. You have to consider that fact and come up with another solution. These people need help now." 

"What other solution is there?" Julia asked, but Yale made no reply. She walked slowly back to where the children were standing by the DuneRail. She had wanted to use native plants, but she didn't have the correct equipment to do complete medical scans any longer. She glanced around the beach. There wasn't much here, but there might be something. Of course Yale could perform simple scans with his equipment, and they had his database for information. "Who wants to help me scout the area for plantlife that we can use to make some medicine?" 

"We'll help!" Uly said energetically. "We're really good at looking for stuff." 

"We'll do whatever you say," True included. 

The four of the group that remained mobile went off to search the area. Mazatl, who was sitting on one side of the enclosure, waited until they were out of sight before he decided to join them. "I'm going too," he said. "At least I can still walk." 

"No you don't!" Alonzo said. He wanted to put a restraining arm around him, but Morgan was between them. "Morgan, keep him here." 

"Let him go if he wants to go," Morgan said with a shrug. "It's getting crowded in here anyway." 

"Morgan!' Alonzo tried reaching over Morgan to get a grip on Mazatl, but his immobile leg kept him in place. 

"Maz," Morgan sighed, grabbing the man forcefully by the arm. "Julia wants you to stay here, so you better stay here. She'll probably get mad at me if she sees you wandering around, so do us all a favor and just sit down. Okay." 

Mazatl made one last attempt to get out of their clutches, but slipped and landed on Morgan's splint. Morgan released him immediately and gasped loudly. 

"Morgan, you are you okay?" Alonzo had untangled himself from his own leg and turned to the liaison. Morgan had gone white as a sheet and gasped for air. 

"Gee, I'm sorry Morgan. I didn't mean to do that. I really didn't" Mazatl said quickly. He patted Morgan gently on the head, the way one would try to comfort a dog or a small child, "Really, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Are you okay? You want me to get Julia? I'm real sorry." 

"S'okay," Morgan said finally, "It's fine." He closed his eyes and pressed his head against their driftwood enclosure. 

****

Once everyone reached the cove, they broke into teams, and went to different parts of the rocky area. As Devon watched them work, she couldn't help but feel proud. They were hard to recognize as the squabbling Station Dwellers that first set foot on this planet all those months ago. Now, they worked easily and efficiently together. She watched as Baines braved the surf to pull in a promising looking case. Cameron and Bess were sorting though a hopeless looking pile of parts, while Walman carted off their rejects in an abandoned container. Magus and Danziger secured Zero to a formidable looking log and set him to hauling it up the shore. 

They had traveled through so much, had experienced so many things during their journey. If someone, at the beginning, had brought her a list of everything they would have to go through, she might have given up at the start. This group of people had surprised her consistently with their drive and ingenuity. They would never give up. She was so happy that she could finally bring them to this place, the ocean. There were many times along their way that she didn't think they would make it. Still, they had endured. Even in the chilly wind that filled this area, she felt warm and happy. 

The groups dug through piles of sand and almost recognizable shards. In the wreckage they found a container of rotted clothing, shattered beams that would have formed the roof of the hospital, warped siding, twisted flooring, a cache of fouled medical supplies, two water-ruined zeros, a 'rover-load of destroyed electronics, bits and pieces of several vehicles, a hundred or so torn food wrappers, and a total of eight CargoPod transmitters. But despite their search, there was no sign of any usable medical supplies. 

**** 

"So, what's the first thing you're gonna do when we get to the CommDish?" Uly asked True. They were busily collecting the beach grass that Julia had pointed out to them. 

"Huh, oh I dunno." True carefully pulled at the grass and watched Uly. "She said to be sure that you get the roots and everything, Uly. You're not getting the roots." 

"I'm getting the roots!" Uly insisted, then looked down at the rootless grass in his hand. He tossed it aside and made a better attempt at harvesting the grass. "I mean, it's going to be so great to finally get there. And Julia and Alonzo are going to get married. I bet we have a big party just like when Morgan and Bess got married again. Do you think they'll stay in their tent for days too?" 

True smiled, "I bet they stay in for weeks!" 

"Do you think that Denner and Mazatl will get married too? I bet they will." Uly tossed another handful of grass on the pile. "And Magus and Walman too... if Magus lets him." 

"Magus likes him. I bet she does get married to him." True wistfully turned over the grass in her hand. "Do you think your mom and my dad will ever....?" 

"You kidding?" Uly started, "No way. Not my mom. I know I'm not getting married anyway." The two of them worked in silence for several minutes. Then Uly said, "I hope Morgan finishes our VR program soon. Last time he didn't even have the race-cars in there yet." 

"It was stupid to put those cars in there." 

"You said I could have them if I kept them on the other side of Cameron's Notch." 

**** 

Denner worked her way over to where Bess was digging through a pile of crushed medical supplies. "How you doing?" she asked. 

Bess shrugged, but kept digging. "We will find something here," she said defiantly. 

"Do you think they're okay back there. I'm thinking maybe I should have stayed back there with Maz. He doesn't always tell people what he needs. He's too quiet. Somebody needs to watch out for him. Do you think he's doing okay? He wasn't looking very good when we left." 

"Julia and Yale are there. They'll take good care of him. Julia is a great doctor, even without her equipment. They'll be fine." 

"I'm just worried, that's all. Are you worried?" Denner looked timid and small against the backdrop of the endless ocean. 

Bess worried. From the moment she saw the destruction at the cove, from the moment that Morgan tripped, from the moment that he dove into the river, the time the DuneRail didn't come back, when he disappeared in the night, when the Koba attacked, so many times. She hugged Denner tightly to her and said nothing. 

**** 

Alonzo walked stiffly around the windbreak, using a long driftwood stick to keep him upright. The numbness seemed to be letting up a little, or at least it hadn't gotten any worse. He could see Julia and Yale sitting by the fire, and the children still working at harvesting grass. 

'No, too hot. Too hot. Why did they leave us here?" Mazatl had been speaking almost non-stop since Julia and the others returned with their findings. "Aren't we there yet? Are we there? We got to be just about there now, don't we?" 

Morgan was lying down now, wrapped up in a blanket, eyes shut, said quietly, "It's okay. Help is coming." 

"But where are they? Where, huh? What's happening? Why aren't they here." 

"They came back already, remember? Julia said they'd cook up some stuff and be right back," Morgan said miserably. "And then Devon and the rest will be here soon and then you'll be just fine. Don't worry, they'll take care of you and you'll be just fine." 

Alonzo hobbled over to where Julia and Yale were conversing. "Alonzo!" Julia said when she saw him, "You are supposed to be sitting down. 

"We have to do something," Alonzo said sternly, "Mazatl's getting a lot worse." 

"I think I have something that might help." Julia was crushing the beach grass against a rock and scrapping the pulp into a bowl. 

The cyborg nodded, "It could possibly have some antiseptic qualities, and thus treat the infection. My equipment is not as fine tuned as Julia's medical equipment, so my conclusions may not be 100% correct." 

"I wish there were some Grendlers around," Julia included, "I'd like to try some old fashioned spit on him, but we haven't seen any since that forest." 

"You gotta do something about it." Alonzo shook his head. "And Morgan stopped complaining. In most people that's a good sign. I don't think that's the case for him." Both Julia and Alonzo had seen this before. When the DuneRail crash injured Morgan, he hardly complained at all, and after he nearly drowned in the river, he was almost silent. 

"We found a tree that may have the same qualities as the willow on Earth. I'm making an analgesic tea. It should work as a pain reliever." 

When Uly and True saw Alonzo near the fire, they ran toward him. "Alonzo!" Uly spouted, "You're okay? That jellyfish thing didn't hurt you that bad?" 

"I'm getting better," he said to them. He poked his upper thigh, "I think it's starting to wear off a little." 

"How's Morgan and Mazatl?" Uly asked him " They're going to be okay, aren't they?" 

"That's what I'd like to think," Alonzo replied, and then True met his eyes. Her face was wise and sad, and her eyes registered the fact that he didn't answer the question. 

Julia pulled a kettle off the fire, picked up the bowl, and headed over to the driftwood and examined her two patients visually. They couldn't seem more different at that moment. The usually quiet and calm Mazatl, was flushed, moving about somewhat wildly in an attempt to escape the fever, talking without pause. Morgan, on the other hand, was shivering slightly, but trying to be very still, his face was ashen. 

"Julia, Julia!" Mazatl spoke as she approached, "We can get going now, right? We don't want to be left behind. Do you think it's going to rain? It might rain, huh? We better get to the camp if it's going to rain, huh? Yeah, but it's windy now. If it's windy it's going to rain. Do you think it might rain?" Morgan said nothing, but rather pressed his head into the sand, and watched Julia coldly. 

Julia set the kettle on the ground and placed one hand on each of the men's foreheads. One was burning up, and the other was clammy and cold. "Morgan, I've made some tea that should take away some of the pain." Yale helped Morgan sit up as Julia filled a cup from the kettle. She carefully handed it to Morgan. "I want you to drink this up." He slowly brought the cup to his mouth and took a sip, then brought it back down. "Drink it," Julia said sternly. 

Again, Morgan brought the cup to his lips and drank. He grimaced as he forced the foul smelling liquid down and then attempted to set the cup on the log. It fell to the ground. 

She then turned to Mazatl. She began unwinding the bandages from his injured hand. The smell of infection was powerful as she pulled of the last layer. "Damn it!" she swore when she saw how much worse the cut had become. She scooped the grass pulp from the bowl and dabbed it on the wound. 

"Agghh!" Mazatl nearly leapt out of the enclosure when she applied the substance. "Stop that! What is that?" Mazatl said quickly. "Man, it hurts. What is it? What are you doing? What are you doing?" Yale and Alonzo were at his side, holding him down now. 

"I'm hoping it will kill the infection," Julia replied. "Now you have to let me do this so that we can make you better." 

"It hurts like hell." Mazatl snapped. 

"Well, I hope that means it's working." Julia carefully wound new bandages around the hurt hand. "With any luck at all, you should be feeling better soon." And they would definitely need luck. The analysis of these items had shown only the slight possibility of success. At least she was doing something now, and that was one hundred times better than just sitting and waiting for someone to magically appear with the modern miracle drugs. 

**** 

Devon watched Danziger as he picked up a large sheet of metal and pushed it aside. Beneath was a crushed DuneRail, barely recognizable under it's cover of barnacles and thick wet sand. They had searched the beach for hours now and had not been able to find the medical supplies. They found dozens of cracked cases with the Medical insignia, but the contents were ruined. 

Baines, Walman and Magus had excavated a huge hole in the hopes that something had been buried early on and thus saved, but had found nothing worthwhile. The tide had come in since they started the hole, and it was eventually flooded. The group moved further up the beach as the water crept toward them. 

They had been able to find a few tools of the simplest sort, axes, picks, saws, shovels and hammers. All of these were carefully saved as they continued to look for any usable medical supplies. Zero had created a huge pile of reusable metal and plastic slabs, but it was obvious that when they went to build their new home, they would have to do it mostly from scratch. There would be no modern hospital, no pre-form village. Devon tugged her coat closer and sighed. Winter was setting in. The colonists would arrive in the spring and there would be nothing to meet them. 

But she knew that when the colonists arrived, there would be something to meet them. They had lost a lot of materials here, but not everything. They would make due with what they had, as they always had. She knew that, even now as things looked so dark, that there would be light. Julia would cure Mazatl, Alonzo and Morgan. She would find a way, the same way that she found a way bring herself, Devon, out of that terrible illness. There would be enough bits and pieces here to put together some sort of a hospital, some sort of shelter for all the families that would follow. They would do it, because she knew that these people were capable of anything. 

It was getting late. She would wait one more hour before calling Julia. 

**** 

The result came much quicker than Julia had ever expected. Almost as soon as Mazatl stopped complaining about the stinging of the pulp, his fever began to lessen. Julia finally loosened the bandage and looked in disbelief at the puckered wound. The stench and the blackness were gone. "It's a lot better now." Mazatl said in his usual quiet voice. 

Julia wished she could smile at this success, but Morgan had not improved at all. His unnatural quietness disturbed her terribly. "Morgan," she spoke distinctly to him, "Morgan, are you feeling ANY better?" 

He shrugged slightly, "I don't know. It's about the same." He was far too pale. She had given him the tea almost an hour ago and there had been no change. It had been almost two days since this injury, and he was just completely worn out by the constant pain. 

The children were watching expectantly. Julia wished she had sent them off with the others now. Yale and Alonzo were nearby. Alonzo still used the stick for support, his right leg was still too numb to support his weight ... numb. 

Purposefully, Julia strode over to the driftwood enclosure and picked up a shovel and a pair of gloves that the others had used earlier. She hurried down toward the surf, and searched carefully for several minutes. Finally, she saw what she was looking for and dug into the wet sand with the shovel. When she was back at the side of the DuneRail, Alonzo finally realized what she was doing. 

"You're kidding, right?" he said 

"Not in the least." She put on the gloves and regarded the contents of the shovel. 

"Do you think this is really a good idea?" Alonzo asked, watching her carefully. 

"You said that the feeling is coming back to your leg, right?" 

"Just barely! Julia, we don't know what that thing can do," Alonzo replied as Julia carefully lifted the jellyfish out of the shovel. 

"Morgan," Julia leaned close to him as she spoke, "Morgan, do you want me to relieve the pain? Do you understand what we were talking about? We don't know how long it will last. The numbness might never go away. There may be other complications we don't know about. Do you understand that? We really don't know that much about this creature." 

Morgan glanced down at the jellyfish, and then looked at Julia with weary eyes and nodded. "Do it'" he said simply. 

Julia snapped the jellyfish in her gloved hands hoping it would anger the creature enough to sting, and dropped it through the opening on the top of the splint. 

It stung him quickly, but Yale, Alonzo and Mazatl were holding him down, so that although Morgan jerked slightly, he didn't hurt himself any further. Julia quickly pulled the creature back out of the splint, and waited a minute. "Morgan, is that any better." 

He was quiet for a long moment, as he contemplated the thought, then he smiled, "Yeah, hey, it doesn't hurt anymore." He poked a finger through the bars of the splint. "It took you long enough. You knew about this jellything all day, and you finally put two and two together. Could it have taken you any longer?" 

Julia smiled, "He's feeling better," she said to Alonzo. 

**** 

Devon waved as the DuneRail approached. The others had just finished setting up camp and they all gathered to greet the arriving vehicle. True, Uly and Julia were walking alongside, and were a little winded by their brisk pace. Walman and Baines helped Alonzo out of the back seat, while Denner and Magus helped the still weakened Mazatl out of the 'Rail and over to the collapsible tables. Bess climbed into the DuneRail's front seat, beside Morgan. 

Devon approached Julia. "I didn't find exactly what you were looking for," Devon said, "But we didn't come up completely empty handed." 

She led the doctor to the table where they had set up their prizes. Lined up along the edge were what was referred to as 'primitive instruments.' They were rarely used anymore, but when you were stocking a hospital, you never could tell what you might need. She looked over the array of scalpels, clamps, needles, razors, scissors and knives. Here were the means of getting Morgan back together again, of repairing the damage to Mazatl's hand. It would have to be done in a rather archaic fashion, but as long as she had a local anesthetic and an antiseptic, it would be possible. 

"So, are the remedies working?" Devon asked. 

"They're working." She turned to the others, who were standing around, grinning stupidly at her. They were wet and cold, and covered with sand. They had worked all day to find these things. "Thank you, everyone. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this." 

"No problem, Doc," Walman said, and the group dispersed to their regular duties. 

**** 

Bess snuggled up close to Morgan. "Did you miss me?" She asked as she lay her head against his chest. 

"Terribly," he answered, gently stroking her hair. He whispered softly to her, "I was thinking about our honeymoon..." and she giggled like a schoolgirl. 

Julia walked up and stood beside them for a moment and then said, "Morgan, I would like to wait until we reach the CommDish before we do anything to you. That way I can operate in a sterile environment 

"Operate..." Morgan squeamishly watched Julia handle the crude instruments that the others had found. 

"I'll get you patched up again and dancing in no time. In the meantime, would you rather stay where you are right now or do you want some privacy in your tent." 

"Tent!" Morgan and Bess said in unison. 

The Martin tent had already been set up, so it only took a little careful maneuvering and several Advancers to carry Morgan into their home. 

Julia glanced at Mazatl. He was looking much better, and now he had Denner to baby him. She was serving him some soup now, and looked like she wanted to spoon feed him. Alonzo was watching them with an amused expression from across the table. Julia sat down beside him, "How are you feeling now?" she asked, as she ran her hand along his leg. 

Alonzo said, "I'm starting to feel a bit more. Still pretty numb. I'm okay, just as long as it eventually goes away. I guess, the longer this jellyfish thing keeps you numb, the better for Morgan's sake, huh?" 

"It looks like you'll be just fine. I would say you have at least another full day, maybe longer." She continued to run her hand seductively along his leg. 

"You know I can't feel a thing," he whispered to her. 

"Can you feel this?" 

Mazatl and Denner looked up as Alonzo and Julia passionately embraced. Mazatl looked embarrassed; Denner cheered. 

Julia and Alonzo stopped when they heard the commotion. "When we marry, it will be forever. Forever is a long time," Alonzo said to her. 

"And I want to spend it with you," Julia said. 

**** 

It was night when Yale approached Devon. "Do you know where we are?" he asked. 

"Yes, at Refurbishing Cove," she nodded out to the dark expanse before her. 

"Do you know what is just over there?" He pointed southward. 

She shook her head. "What's there?" 

"The CommDish," Yale replied. All day long Devon and the rest had been tuned to the CargoPod transmitters. The more powerful CommDish would have drowned them out, so they had purposely tuned out that particular signal. "Just over that rise, about a half click away," he added 

Devon turned and faced the direction of the CommDish. She wanted to run, to speed across the moonlit beach and feel the wind around her. She wanted to reach the CommDish, breathless, and touch it's metal surface, to know it was real, to know that their journey was finally over, to have succeeded, to be finally home. 

She looked back to her group again. Walman and Baines were standing at the Martin tent's door, talking loudly to the occupants. One of Bess' shoes flew out the open door and knocked Walman in the head. Denner was patiently trying to feed Mazatl who was obviously against the idea. Alonzo held Julia tightly against him; their faces showed nothing but contentment. Uly sat beside Danziger and discussed some manly subject. True was clearing up the plates left over from dinner, carefully setting them into a basin that Zero carried, while Cameron followed them, talking about some subject that Zero seemed anxious to comment about. Magus stopped by Denner to refill the soup bowl and laugh at Mazatl's pained expression. 

"Devon?" Yale said, still standing beside her. 

"We'll go tomorrow," Devon replied, "When everyone is rested and ready. We will go there together. The CommDish will wait until tomorrow." She looked back at the ocean, illuminated by two moons. Black and white, dark and light, the ocean turned and rolled.

****

THE END 

* * *

[Drop me a note, let me know what you think. Even if it's just to complain. ][1]

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Do you feel cheated? Yeah, I know, I brought 'em to the brink of reaching their destination... and left them there. Sorry about that.

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	7. String of Pearls

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This story is based on the TV show, Earth 2. All of the characters belong to this show and I do not mean to infringe on anything. Ask anyone, they'll tell ya! This story takes place after the end of the series. And, it continues the saga that I began with my other stories. It would probably be best if you read them first, but this story can stand on its own. All in all, this is a 'not very exciting story.' It is just a day-in-the-life of Eden Advance now that they have reached New Pacifica.

****

String of Pearls 

* * *

He awoke and listened in the darkness. The sound repeated, softly, urgently. Morgan Martin turned to his right, and watched Bess sleep. For a minute there was near silence, only the sound of her breathing filled the room. Then quietly, he pushed back the blankets, sat up and swung his left leg off the bed with practiced care. He adjusted the angle of the brace slightly. It was in its fifth generation now, refined each time to better suit his mobility. Despite three surgeries, he still needed the extra support that the brace provided.

Morgan grabbed the crutches that leaned against the wall and stood carefully. He took a moment to adjust his weight and as quietly as possible he moved out of the small room and into the narrow, short corridor. He had worked hard to move soundlessly on the cumbersome crutches. When he first started using them, he used to pound resoundingly through the metal structure, but now he made hardly a sound. For once, he made it down the hallway without catching the crutches into the tight spaces created by the building struts

Morgan first moved to the room on the far end of the small building. The electronics bay lit the room with a constant glow. He leaned over the command center and pulled the GEAR off the back of the chair and put it on. The chair moved slightly when he did this, so Morgan moved it back into its previous position. The wheeled office chair was one of the few items to survive the destruction of the CargoPods, and Morgan prized it. He tapped on the keyboard a few times, checking to see if anything had been recorded. Nothing new was noted. He considered starting another scan when that sound repeated. He took off the GEAR and put it back on the chair, then hobbled back to the corridor.

Half way to their bedroom, Morgan stopped at the only other opening and entered. A small LumaLite palely lit the room. He moved to the crate in the center of the room with great care. When he looked into it, he smiled. Amelia Margaret smiled back.

"What are you doing up so early?" he whispered as he picked up the baby and held her close to him. "Your mommy is sleeping. You can't be hungry already." The baby gurgled happily and grabbed at her father's long hair. "Maybe you were just bored, huh?" He leaned against the wall of the room and held the baby up to his face. She looked so much like Bess, he could hardly see any of himself in her. She had Bess' hair, ears, chin, and eyes. She was long though, in the 95th percentile for her age (that's what Julia had said). 95, now that's pretty impressive. "You go right ahead and take after your mother. You can be tall like me, but that's all." Amelia still smiled and blew bubbles at him. "That's a big smile for Daddy. Or is it just gas?" He placed her on his shoulder and thumped her back. "Yeah, gas." 

She started making that sound again, that 'feed me now' sound. "Okay, okay, hang on." He pulled a sling off a hook on the wall and strung it around his neck and shoulder, and then placed Amelia in it. The baby quieted down immediately once he had her tightly against himself. "Smart kid," he thought, "She knows that she's headed to her mom." He grabbed his crutches again and headed back to the bedroom.

He slowly made his way back into the bedroom and stood beside the bed, looking down at his sleeping wife. He felt a surge of amazement. How could he be so lucky as to have Bess for a wife and Amelia for a child? Could anything be more wonderful? Amelia made a soft sound and Bess rolled over and looked up at him.

"She's hungry," Morgan said.

"Morgan," Bess said and sighed, "Was she even awake this time?" She reached up to take the baby out of the sling and cradled the child to her, "Good morning Amy-Maggie! Such a pretty baby; such a pretty baby." she cooed. "You like waking your mommy and daddy, don't you?"

"She was up. She was hungry and was asking to be fed."

Bess shook her head and prepared to nurse the child. "Morgan, we have to let her cry sometimes."

"Amelia will never have reason to cry," Morgan stated.

Bess smiled. "You are spoiling her. Everyone will think she's a spoiled brat."

"Everyone will love her, just like you." He kissed Bess on the forehead. "I think I'll get in a few scans before breakfast."

"I don't want you hooked up to that GEAR all day again, honey. The sun's not even up yet."

"Yeah well, that means no one will come around to bother me and maybe I can get some work done," he said and headed out of the room. "Besides, I have a feeling that today is going to be the big day!" 

"Morgan, I mean it," Bess said sternly, and then returned her attention to their child.

Morgan just shrugged. He paused in the doorway and glanced back at his wife and daughter. How could he be so damned lucky, he thought as he headed back to the electronics bay of the CommDish.

* * * *

Baines leaned against the outside wall of the CommDish and rubbed his hands together. It would be light soon, but for now he stood alone in the light of the moons. There was nothing lonelier than being on night watch. He was probably the only human being awake on the whole planet. The penal colonists and others to the east, if any still existed, certainly slept late.

It was hard to believe that winter was coming again. Even harder to believe that today marked their first anniversary at Roanoke Colony. At least the autumn rains were over. The weather had not been as terrible as the previous year in the valley, and thankfully, there had been no insect invasion, but they were all glad when the rains ended. Yale had said that the winters should stay mild at this location, and their last winter had proved his point. The temperatures dropped below freezing only twice last year, a welcome change to their WinterCamp in the mountains. And of course, the String of Pearls protected them from the harsh surf of winter. He sighed and thought about summer. For a few minutes he reveled in the memory of hot sandy beaches and mild breezes blowing through the compound. He remembered his 'perfect spot' on the dunes and the long days, where it hardly mattered that their clothing had been worn threadbare. He tugged at his wool sweater, glad to have it in the chilly morning air.

The camp lights lit up the pathway leading away from the CommDish. Oyster shells lined the walk here, carefully delineating the edge of the pathway. Around the large rectangular structure, the last vestiges of flowers hunkered down against the coming winter. "Bess sure fixed the place up nice," he thought as he moved away. Still, he liked living in the Great House better than he would the cramped CommDish.

Baines shouldered the MagPro and headed down the path, toward the hospital that also served as the Solace residence. The hospital had been their first attempt at building anything, and their inexpertness showed in the bulky, rustic look of the building. Still, despite its ugly appearance, the hospital was a sound structure and could probably take on any storm. 

Devon and Uly had their own small house further down, the rest lived in the Great House. John and True would start their own place next, now that the rains had subsided. That would mean more space in the Great House for the rest of them. Not that they needed it. The building was designed to act as a temporary residence for over 100 people. 

Baines turned back to the CommDish when he heard the dish suddenly start moving. It adjusted itself into a new position and stopped. Well, Morgan was up at least, and probably Bess and the baby too. Now there were four people awake on the planet. 

He passed the Great House, with its high roof and impressive length, and continued walking. Cameron's 'chickens' were still asleep and thankfully silent. He blew on his hands as he reached the Cook House and looked to the east again, toward the pasture. The sky was just beginning to lighten. He could see the puffy mounds begin to stir in their field in the coming light. "Good," he thought, "Night watch is officially over." He pulled open the door of the Cook House, turned on the lights, and started up the stove to make some tea. Once he set the kettle on the stove, he headed back outside to watch the sunrise.

* * * *

"Mom!" Uly shook his mother's arm, "Mom, wake up. It's morning!"

Devon rolled over and pulled the drapes back. The sun was just rising over the Last-Step Mountain Range. "Uly," she groaned. "It's just sunrise. Go back to bed."

"But it's Destination Day! It's our first anniversary of reaching this place." He tugged at her covers again. "Come on, let's get up!" 

She tiredly looked into his bright eyes and sighed. She could never say 'no' to that face. Her son, who was once so very sick, who was destined to die by the age of nine, was a healthy child of nearly eleven. She pushed the boy away gently. "Go to your room and get dressed. I'm getting up." The boy grinned and ran back to his room. Devon remained for a moment, looking out the window as the sun rose over the mountains. It was going to be a beautiful day. 

She dressed and met Uly in the main room of their home. It was still a novelty to her, having an actual house with bedrooms and everything. She touched the rough walls lovingly, and moved her hands through the drapery. This was their home. It wasn't just a set of rooms on a space station; this home was really theirs. "Let's see if anyone else is up," she said and the two walked out the door.

The sun was up by this time and the two of them walked out into the courtyard. Uly ran to the pasture and reached over the fence to touch the fleece of a nearby 'goat.' It lowered its head to nuzzle his hand, and the boy scratched it behind the ears. The creature was tall and strong, with a woolly coat, that could be sheared and spun, and it readily gave a decent quantity of milk. They resembled mountain goats with their long beards, short horns and harsh bleat. All it took to tame them was a steady diet of oats and grass. 

Baines saw them and headed over. "Morning," he said.

"Are you excited?" Uly asked. "It's Destination Day! Where's everybody else?"

"Asleep, which would be the smart place to be right now," Baines answered, reaching to pat the goat on its back. It turned its head inquisitively, and then butted Baines roughly with its head. "Hey, is that any way to treat they guy who takes care of you?"

"That just means she loves you," Uly said helpfully. "Dontcha think we should get everyone up? We need to have a really big party with decorations and everything! It's Destination Day!"

Baines raised his eyebrows and looked at Devon. "A party? I don't know where you're thinking we could get decorations. Everything we have is falling apart."

"We'll do something special," Devon assured her son. "Anybody else up?" she asked Baines.

"The Martins," he gestured toward the CommDish. "And I think Walman and Magus will take the boat out before it gets too late."

* * * *

"Ready?" Walman asked.

"Just shove off already!" Magus said sharply, and Walman pushed the boat off the shoal, jumping in quickly. Magus grabbed the oars and started rowing into the protected sea. "Let's start at Fiefdom and work our way toward the Hamlet," she said.

Walman nodded and checked the 'crab pots,' to make sure that they hadn't become tangled after Magus threw them into the boat. Of course, the lines were disordered and would take some time to correct. "We should have started earlier," Walman said.

"I felt like sleeping in," Magus answered, rowing cleanly and smoothly across the gentle ocean toward the barrier islands. "It was a great day for sleeping in." She watched as Walman bailed out the water that was seeping into the bottom of the boat. "You haven't fixed that yet?" she teased.

Walman shook his head. "I must have put a gallon of tree sap into those cracks and it still keeps leaking. I think I just about have it now though." He scooped out another bucket and poured it overboard. "At least it's better than it was." Danziger and Baines had attempted to build a boat out of bits and pieces of the smashed CargoPods. Although the metal boat floated, it was almost impossible to maneuver. Yale, Mazatl and Walman tried wood, building a rowboat, the old fashioned way. Their boat, although a bit leaky, at least could be steered.

It took them nearly 20 minutes to reach the Island Fiefdom and set down their first pots. They skirted along the String of Pearls Islands, past Islands Burgh, Borough, and Pueblo, setting down the traps until all the pots were down. Then, at a secluded area near Island Hamlet, they pulled out their poles and started fishing. 

It was a cool, quiet morning. Walman pulled his woolly cap over his eyes and made himself comfortable in the bow of the boat. Magus leaned back against their picnic basket and watched the clouds move slowly across the sky. From time to time she turned toward the island and watched the waves move past the bits of land. Island chickens skittered about near the ocean's edge. She could hear the crash of the surf on the far side of the rocky islands and was glad that they had this protective barrier between them and the wildness of the ocean.

The boat rocked gently in the tide as the sun rose higher into the sky, sending the water in the bottom of the craft sloshing about. Magus lazily tugged at her line and yawned. She couldn't think of a better place to be right now. She kicked Walman with just the tip of her toe.

He awoke with a start and nearly dropped his rod overboard. "Hey, I was sleeping!"

"How can you sleep when it is so dang nice, huh?"

"Pretty easily," he returned, then he jumped as his rod nearly doubled over. He gripped it tightly as the line stained. "I got something!" he yelped. 

"Don't loose it," Magus shouted encouragement. "Fight him. Is he fighting? Play him out. Reel him in! Don't let him get away. Get 'em Walman! Get that bastard fish!"

Walman did his best to follow orders and after several minutes pulled the fish from the water. The two of them stared at the creature on the line. It was a strange red and orange fish, large, fat and stubby. Walman had trouble holding it up with one arm. It had a ruff of fur around its head, huge eyes, and long feelers that fell back like ears.

"What the hell is it?" Magus asked.

* * * *

"Well, it is edible," Cameron said. He turned the creature over, unable to hide his look of disgust. "It looks like someone overfed, shaved, painted and drowned a rabbit."

Denner examined the fish critically. "I think I could roast it up and it would taste pretty good. How much to you think it weights? Ten or eleven kilos?

"Yeah, that's about right. You aren't going to experiment with that tonight are you?" Cameron watched as she poked it experimentally. "It is Destination Day, you know."

Denner laughed. "All the more reason to serve it tonight! It's a special occasion, that means we should eat something incredible, and I bet this will taste just great with the right spices. Ah, what should we call it?"

"Well, we can't call it a Drowned-Rabbit Fish," Cameron frowned, "Or Damn-Ugly Thing."

"I don't know, those sound pretty good to me," Denner said, and then added, "How 'bout walman-fish. He did discover it." She spoke loudly so that Walman and Magus could hear her as they carried the last of the crabs to the Cook House.

Walman shook his head. "I don't want something that ugly named after me." He held up one of the crabs. "How about a walman-crab?"

Cameron laughed, "Well, they may not be exactly like the crabs on Earth, but they are still scavengers. You want something that eats garbage named after you?"

Walman threw up his arms, nearly tossing a crab. "It's impossible to name anything after yourself! There is always something bad in the deal. All the good stuff has been named already."

"I can't help it if they decided to name the mountain pass after me. I was just hoping for the Notch." Cameron said with some pride. "Besides, didn't we name a lake for you a while back."

"Yeah, a long while back. We'll never see it again."

"I'll find something for you," Magus said helpfully. "Look, a pebble. How about walman-pebble."

"Too small," he said gruffly

"How bout that tree? Walman-tree!"

"They're too sappy," Walman said with a grin.

"How about those birds?"

"You mean the ones that crap all over everything?"

"Then those big-ole rocks over there? How 'bout them?"

"Too late, Mazatl's already nabbed them."

****

Mazatl sat at Mazatl's Perch and watched the ocean. From his position he could see Refurbishing Cove to the North, with it's harsh crashing surf, and to the South, the calm quiet of Roanoke Beach. The String of Pearls Islands stretched out to surround their beach, protecting it from the wildness that tore at the cove. He had watched the boat as it moved between the islands, hauling in crab pots, and then heading back to the little town. He had seen Walman and Magus unload the boat and pull it back onto shore. He could see all of the buildings of their small settlement, and the goat pasture, and the farmland beyond. He could see that the horse pasture was just about finished, ready for the wild horses they had been planning to bring in from the valley in the spring.

He had found this solitary place almost as soon as they arrived, and discovered that it was provided the perfect vantage point for seeing everything on or about the beach. It was his place; nobody else had figured out how to climb the steep side of the rocks. He sat back and watched the waves sneak quietly around the islands and peter out before they reached the beach. It was a calm, quiet location. Even in the rains of autumn, he would come and spend hours here.

His quiet reverie was broken by a mechanized voice. "Pardon me. I don't mean to intrude," Zero said politely from below.

Mazatl looked down toward the robot at the base of the rocks. Zero was standing near the buckets that Mazatl had filled with oysters during low tide. Although the bi-valve was much more similar to the Earth clam in every way, they resembled the oyster in one critical point. They produced pearls. Of course the pearls were usually meager looking things, hardly larger than a grain of rice, not worth mentioning. But from time to time they discovered a truly beautiful pearl. Nearly everyone had discovered one of the sensational pearls at some point. They were a source of pride to the owners. "Yes?" the man said expectantly to the waiting machine.

"I was sent to deliver your lunch," the mechanized worker responded. He lifted a basket for the man to see. Mazatl quickly scaled down the rocks, leaping down to Zero's level. The robot remained, arm lifted, waiting for Mazatl to reach him.

"Thanks," Mazatl took the long-handled basket and peered inside. "Looks good." There were reeds that grew in the wetlands nearby. Once they perfected the art of basket-making, the reed baskets has replaced most of the other containers they had been using. He nodded at Zero and turned to climb back onto the rocks. "Goodbye."

"Excuse me, might I ask what you see while you are at that location?"

Mazatl turned back to Zero. "I can see quite a bit," he said hesitantly. 

"Can you describe it to me?" Zero asked.

Mazatl sighed. How could he describe the way the waves seemed to caress the barrier islands, the way the clouds formed around the Last-Step Mountains like a cloak, how the birds hung in the air - raising and falling, the way the goats flitted about the field like tufts of cotton, how Blue Lake shone in the sunlight. There were no words.

He stood for a moment, deciding, and then took action. "Here," he said and reached under Zero's head, detaching it and shoving it into his large basket. He probably managed to smash the sandwiches that Denner had made for him. He slung the basket over his shoulder and headed for the rocks.

"Wait, I can't see. I really should see," Zero said, so Mazatl stopped and adjusted the head in his basket until the robot could look out, then he began his assent. His right hand had never regained all of its strength since he deeply cut it over a year ago, but it worked well enough to climb. His hands easily found the secret hand-holds, and his feet wedged into the hidden ledges until he reached the top of the rocks. 

Mazatl pulled the head out of his basket and set it beside him as he sat down. Then he pulled the smashed sandwiches and fruit out, and began eating.

"Oh, I see..." the head said thoughtfully. Mazatl glanced down at Zero, expecting him to prattle on about everything, but the robot said no more. Flickering lights told him that the machine was still processing information, but there was no reason to say anything just yet.

The two of them watched the CommDish turn slightly as Morgan began another scan and they could see Uly running from his home to the Cook House. They watched the glistening creeks that fed Blue Lake and saw the wind kick up leaves out in the field. Bess emerged from the forest, carrying Amelia in one arm and a basket of berries in the other. She went into the CommDish for several minutes and then walked to the Cook House. A wild creature that looked like a mad cross between a duck and a dog moved through the future horse pasture and disappeared into the undergrowth. They watched as Danziger and True headed out of the Great House and over to a patch of land. They carried sticks, hammers, a bail of string, saws and an axe. The autumn days of relaxation and rain were over. The building season was beginning again.

* * * *

True wound the string around the stake in the soil, and looked up at her father as he sawed the limbs off a fallen tree. "This is where my bedroom is going to be," she said out loud as she moved to the next stake, pulling the string tight between them.

Her father nodded as he worked. "Yes True, and over there will be the living room, and there will be my room."

"I can't wait. I am tired of living in the Great House with all the others. Uly and even Amelia have their own rooms. It's about time I had one too."

Danziger laughed, "I wouldn't call the Martin nursery much of a room. It's more of a closet. You, True-Girl, are going to have more room than you know what to do with." The saw cut cleanly into the wood, making a satisfying zuff-zuff sound as it bit into the branches. Soon he had denuded the tree, and piled the branches haphazardly beside him. He worked them down to firewood sized lengths and once True finished with her work, she stacked the logs outside the perimeter. It felt good to be working outside again. Yale had told them that they should expect a customary rainy season in this part of the world. Two to three weeks of solid rain every year, just after harvest. Two to three weeks was just far too long for his patience.

As True continued stacking the wood, Danziger picked up a shovel and started to work on digging out the roots of the tree. True said, "Its going to be a wonderful house, isn't it Dad?"

"It will be the best house. We were smart to wait a year. Now everyone knows how to put one of these things together. We have experience. Our house will be the best one yet. It'll look a heck of a lot better than the hospital." As he nodded at the mentioned structure, Julia and Alonzo came out. The two seemed to be headed elsewhere, but they changed direction and walked quickly over to where Danziger and True were working.

"You guys started a day early," Alonzo stated.

Danziger shrugged. "I figure we'd get the easy stuff out of the way. That way we can put you to some real work when we start the actual building."

"We're ready," Alonzo said. "Just say the word and we'll pitch in."

"Except we have something to do right now," Julia cut in. "Alonzo, come on, we have to do some gathering."

Alonzo nodded, "Oh yes, gathering..." He rolled his eyes and glanced to Danziger and lowered his voice, "Hey, is it ready?"

The mechanic nodded, also speaking softly, "Oh yeah, it's ready." He patted his shirt pocket.

"You're not carrying it around with you?" Julia hissed. "You might loose it."

"I'm keeping it with me at all times. There's no way I'm going to loose it. This is my one pocket that doesn't have any holes." Still, Danziger unbuttoned the pocket and looked in. "Yes, it's still there. Haven't lost it yet."

"I tied most of the knots," True interjected. "Dad says I have nimble fingers."

"I think it will be just perfect," Julia said, and then she looked at Alonzo. "Where's your sweater?" She looked at him critically.

"It's too itchy," Alonzo shook his head irritatedly.

"We'll have Yale make you another one." Julia pulled Alonzo's collar closed. "He's gotten better at it." 

* * * *

Yale carded the wool slowly and methodically. This batch was going to come out very nicely. He had finally perfected the cleaning process. He pulled out briar and tossed it into a small basket and continued his work. Once he was satisfied with the result, he carefully pulled the wool from the board and set it into another basket for spinning. 

It surprised him that he enjoyed this job so much. He liked sitting by himself on the front porch or by the fireplace inside, surrounded by others, turning fleece into garments. To him, it was a decadent pastime. He hadn't been programmed to sit quietly, to think of nothing at all, carding, spinning or knitting. He liked the feel of raw wool in his hands, he liked to watch the yarn turn on the spindle, and he enjoyed the gentle click of knitting needles. Even when everyone was in the Great House, talking and singing and running about, he could quietly sit and turn fleece into sweaters, blankets, mittens and socks. There was no need to access anything in his database. He could just sit and create.

He liked the old fashioned look of the spinning wheel. It looked like something that Sleeping Beauty might have been cautioned against. Next year they would build a loom and would also plant cotton and flax from the valley. He would become a weaver next.

Cameron entered the building suddenly. "Hey Yale," he said as he headed to the fireside. "Just finished feeding the chickens. I got seven eggs today. That's a near record." The chickens were actually fat flightless birds that lived on the String of Pearl islands. Cameron had caught about a dozen of them and now raised them in coops under the rafters of the Great House. They were bound to be moved to a new location this spring, before they reached their mating season again. The chickens were not quiet in their love-making. "So," he said, "What's up with you?"

The cyborg smiled, "I could go into great detail, but I think you can determine that I am carding wool."

Cameron shrugged and sat down beside him at the fire. "Everyone's getting ready for the big night. I hope Mazatl found that last pearl we needed."

"Oh, I understand that Bess was able to donate another one." Yale said with a smile. "It seems there was an unknown cache at the Martin estate." He glanced up at Cameron, "Has anyone started work on this evening's festivities yet?"

"Not yet," Cameron replied, "Oh, except I guess Denner and Bess are working on the meal."

* * * *

"I can't believe that's the same fish that Walman caught," Bess said as she bounced Amelia on her knee, the partially finished seaweed-salad sat on the heavy wooden table in front of her. The baby laughed and flung her arms back. Uly sat across from them, carefully slicing vegetables. They had quite an impressive store of fruit, vegetables and grain, partially raised in their own fields, but also harvested from Gerting Valley on the other side of Cameron's Pass.

"You see, it doesn't look so bad now." Denner stepped back and admired her handiwork. The once ugly walman-fish, expertly prepared, divested of it's head, feelers, fur, scales, fins, tail, bones and entrails, sat waiting on the cutting board. She grabbed a nearby bowl and began slathering a mixture of goat-butter and herbs onto the fish. "I'm going to making a stuffing out of some of the nuts that True gathered last week and those berries that you picked this morning. I'll steam the oysters that Mazatl brought around yesterday, and boil the eggs that Cameron dropped off today. Toss it all together with some dried bread and stuff it into the fish. Then I'll throw it in the brick oven and hope for the best."

"Sounds interesting," Bess said skeptically.

"I bet it's real good!" Uly said helpfully. "You're a real good cook."

"You see," Denner said, "I do have my fans." She threatened the boy with a buttery hug, but Uly escaped her grasp and hid behind Bess. Amelia smiled at the action. "I'll get you next time," Denner added and went back to her work. As she began mixing together the stuffing she asked, "Has Morgan even poked his head out of the CommDish today? I know I haven't seen him."

"Oh," Bess said distractedly, "He's on one of his missions again. And you know how he gets when he's in THAT mood. I got him to stop for lunch, but that's about it."

"Well, he'd better come out for dinner. It's going to be fabulous, isn't it lover-boy?" She made another reach for Uly who spun out of her grasp and ran to the other side of the table. "Morgan shouldn't be stuck in there all day on Destination Day."

"It's his own doing. When he gets something into his head, there's no stopping him, and he'll keep working until he drops." Bess stood Amelia up on the table and the baby wiggled in appreciation. "I know I can't get him away."

"Well if you can't convince him, nobody can." Denner headed back to the pantry and poked about for a few minutes. "Oh dang it. I'm out of soothe-root powder."

"You use soothe-root on the food?" Bess asked wonderingly. "I thought that was what Julia prescribes for PMS."

"It is, but it also is plenty tasty. It adds just the right zip, and I'm sure it does everyone some good. She gets most of our spices, you know. Uly, could you head over to the hospital and see if Julia has any to spare?"

Uly answered, "Julia and Alonzo are out looking for medicines right now."

* * * *

Alonzo dug the white soothe-root out of the soil, careful to keep the root intact. He yawned and placed it in his basket and looked around for Julia. She was not in sight. "Jules?" He called, as he stood painfully. The worst part about going on one of these gathering expedition, was all the stooping and squatting. "Julia!" he called again.

"Over here!" the doctor called back, and Alonzo trudged through the undergrowth toward her voice. He found her in the midst of a huge fern, carefully clipping the newest growth. "Look what I found," she said happily. "I'll have enough fever-frond to keep us going until spring. And it's still pretty tender."

"Wonderful," he said. All around the mossy, ferny greenery covered the ground. It all looked so soft and comfortable. He grinned wickedly at Julia, it was the only warning he gave her before he pounced. 

"Alonzo!" she laughed as they turned over in the verdant carpet. "Stop it! You're ruining the fern!" but she couldn't stop laughing and they rolled out under a huge cedar-like tree, hung with moss like lace. Alonzo landed on his back, with Julia on top of him. "Stop it!" she said again, thumping him on the chest. "You're terrible. I never should have married you!"

She was too loud. Alonzo knew how to stop that. He reached up for her and drew her to him. Alonzo kissed her into silence, and the two embraced in the green world. "My wife," he said when they finally parted, "My wife, what wonderful words."

"You are a terrible husband," Julia said with mock severity. "You never let me finish what I am working on. We're going to have to start back soon. Tonight is going to be the big night."

"They won't miss us right away, will they?" Alonzo asked.

Julia pulled herself away from him and stood, flicking the bits of lichen and needles that had attached themselves to her. "You'll get your punishment later for misbehaving." She glanced around the quiet wood and said, "It's kinda strange without Ed and Agnes bothering us. I wonder what they're doing."

"Headed south," Alonzo said. "Yeah, I was thinking about them earlier. I didn't realize that I'd miss those Grendlers when they were gone." 

Ed and Agnes, the Grendlers that lived in the woods, had made their presence known shortly after the Advancer's arrival to Roanoke Colony. Following a short term of animosity between the two groups, a sort of friendship blossomed. The Grendlers were well versed in the medicinal properties of the plantlife and showed Julia much of what they knew. In return, the Advancers supplied them with bits and pieces of whatever they had on hand. The Grendlers readily took the most worthless looking piece of trash.

The Advancers were just starting to learn the Grendler language, which proved to be a rather intricate and difficult tongue. Of the group, True had the best general understanding of the language. She always had an uncanny knack of comprehension. Although she could not translate the words, with some effort she could guess the meaning. Yale had a carefully recorded database of Grendler words, and added to it constantly, and thus had the largest vocabulary. Morgan, who treated the language as a code to be broken, could produce the most concise and literal translations. Between the three of them, they could understand most of what Ed and Agnes told them. The two Grendlers had headed south, via the spider tunnels, just before the rains and would be back in the spring.

"Come on, we'd better get going. I still need a couple things before we head back." They found their baskets; Julia's was scattered. The two of them sat side by side and scooped the items back into the container.

There were medications for half a dozen ailments, plus a few cooking spices. Alonzo identified everything but the red berries that took up most of the space. "What are these for?" he asked.

"Oh, I thought we could use them in the decorations for the party. They're not good for anything else."

Alonzo nodded. "So who exactly do they have setting up this party?" he asked

* * * *

"Look out, you idiot!" Baines said as Walman knocked the decorated panel off the wall and sent it to the ground. Baines caught it before the panel hit, but some of the painted nutshells and cones unglued themselves and scattered across the floor.

"Ah, sorry," Walman said, from his precarious position on the ladder. "I didn't mean to do that."

"Geez Wal-fish, this one was one of the good ones."

"Would you stop calling me that!" He tugged on the bluish cable that he had been tacking around the room. "Give me a hand with this and I'll help you glue those goodies back on the board."

"You are not touching my creation." Baines carefully leaned the panel against the wall and then helped Walman get the cable up. It made a halfway decent garland, and what with Baines' panels and Cameron's centerpiece, the dining room in the Cook House was looking rather festive.

Cameron worked on the centerpiece, while Baines and Walman finished adjusting the blue cable. "What do you think?" he asked as Walman climbed down the ladder. "Do you think I used too much lavender?"

"Ah, it looks great," Baines said as he picked up the scattered remains of the panel. "Now if I can just get this fixed before dinner."

Devon, John and True entered the dining hall with armloads of evergreen boughs. They brought with them a clean and powerful scent of pine. "I think we can find a place for these somewhere," Devon said, glancing from Walman to the ladder.

Walman sighed, and climbed the ladder again, "Start handing them up. I guess I can work them into the rafters,"

Danziger pushed him away, "This is man's work," he said to Walman and climbed the rickety ladder. The ladder had originally been found as a twisted mass in Refurbishing Cove. Even now, after much hammering and mending, it still was a rather frightening thing to climb.

"Fine with me," Walman said, picking up the boughs that Danziger had dropped.

"Hey, is the party starting already?" Magus said, as she pushed open the door, her arms loaded with bottles. Walman dropped the branches to assist her with the berry wine.

"Isn't anyone going to help me?" Danziger demanded, but nobody seemed interested in handing him the greenery.

Mazatl opened the door, with Zero at his heels. Mazatl said, "When's dinner?"

"Where have you been all day?" Baines asked, "And have you had Zero with you this whole time? We could have used him. I hope you were doing something important."

Mazatl nodded, "Yes, it was important."

"Well, can you get him to hand me some of those branches?" John asked again, and Zero went to work. 

Magus produced candles and True pulled Uly out of the kitchen to round up colored bits and pieces of anything. Alonzo and Julia stepped into the room in time to add their berries to the mix, and everything was finished just as Denner banged her way out of the kitchen. "It's just about ready," she told them. "Hey, you guys have been busy!"

Bess pushed open the door as Denner was heading back into the kitchen, and the rich smell of dinner wafted into the hall, "Could someone please go get Morgan? It's getting late and dinner is almost ready."

****

Alonzo rapped quickly on the CommDish door and entered into the electronics bay. Morgan was sitting at the control console, GEAR on, lethargically tapping at the keyboard. "Hey," Alonzo said, "They sent me over to haul you out of here. Dinner is just about ready."

Morgan didn't turn from the controls. "Let me just finish up this scan. I'm almost done."

"Okay, ya mind some company?" Alonzo sat down in the extra chair and leaned back. 

"Just try to keep from bothering me, okay?" Morgan sighed expansively and continued his work. "Come on..." he said encouragingly to the console, "You gotta be out there. Just this once, give me a ping." He listened for a moment, and then banged his hand on the tabletop. "Damn it!"

"Still nothing, huh?" Alonzo said unnecessarily.

Morgan, frustrated, pushed himself back from the console and threw the GEAR at the keyboard. "Why can't I find it? I've been looking for a freaking year and I still can't find it."

"If the Colony ship is out there, you'll find it," Alonzo tried to sound reassuring. "They must be a long way off course."

"But how? You said the coordinates where correct before we separated. They should be right there!" Morgan shouted, "A ship as big as that should be easy to find. I mean, you just start at the stations and draw a line to the planet. I should be able to find them like a bead on a string. But no, they're not there. Why can't I find it? I must be screwing something up."

"We know the Council planted a bomb on the ship and a spy in the crew. They must have done something to the tracking system on the Colony ship too."

"I've been expanding the search exponentially. How could they have gotten so far off course? I should have found them by now." Morgan shook his head sadly "And, I really, really wanted to find them today." He looked up at Alonzo excitedly, "Wouldn't it have been great if I found the ship today? On Destination Day!"

"Yeah, that would have been great. Is that why you've been cooped up in here all day?

"I just wanted to do something special," he said and continued, "I was thinking, I might just go out there right now and tell 'em that I got a possible sighting."

Alonzo frowned, "Why would you want to do that."

"Because it's Destination Day. Everyone would be so excited. They'd think that I actually found the ship for a while and everyone would be happy. And we could celebrate! I'd be a hero." Morgan looked to Alonzo for approval.

"Bad idea," Alonzo said. "Why would you want to get everyone's hopes up for nothing?"

"I don't know. It would be better than telling them that I found nothing, AGAIN. I don't know why I bother. It's all a pointless exercise in futility." He flung up his arms in frustration.

"Well, maybe it's time you traded the responsibility off to someone else. You've been at it for almost a year already." 

Morgan sighed. "No, I should be the one. I know what I'm doing and nobody can run this equipment as well as I can. You've all tried it and hated it. I mean, at least I got the knack for this sort of thing."

"Nobody expects you to knock yourself out looking for this ship you know." Alonzo grabbed the crutches that were leaning against the wall, "Come on Morgan, let's go out and join the others. They'll be glad to see us."

Morgan signed and took the crutches from Alonzo, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Might as well join the party. Hey, make yourself useful and grab that thing over there."

"What? This?" Alonzo pointed to the VR-set with the speaker attached to one side. "What did you to do it?" He picked up the devise gingerly. They had hardly any VR gear left and it seemed a shame to cannibalize one of their last working sets.

"It's a kind of a victrola," Morgan responded.

"A what? What's it for?" 

"You'll see, just bring it along." Morgan hoisted himself onto the crutches. He collided into the doorway of the ComDish and grimaced, "Man, I hate these things. I don't think I'll ever get the hang of them."

"You're doing fine, don't worry about it."

"Yeah, right." Morgan frowned and started toward the Cook House. "Hey, do you know what they cooked for dinner?"

"Some weird fish that Walman caught."

* * * *

"That was delicious!" Devon pronounced as everyone settled back into their seats. "I say that 'walman-fish ala Denner' is a success."

"Here's to the cook!" Cameron said, nodding to Denner.

"And the man who supplied the eggs," Denner responded.

"Here's to the fisherman!" Magus added.

"And the vintner." Walman clinked his glass against Magus'

"And the spice harvester," included Alonzo.

"And the decorating team," suggested Bess

"How about the goat milker and butter churner!" Baines said, seeking attention for himself.

"It kinda tasted like chicken," Morgan said confidentially to True who giggled into her hand.

"Yes, thank you to everyone," Devon said as she stood at the head of the table, "None of this would have been possible without everyone's help. What you see here was due to the hard work of everyone. The food, the decorations, the tables we're sitting at. Everyone's hands took part in the building of this hall." Devon looked into the beaming faces of nearly everyone at the table. Only Morgan frowned self-consciously. "And I do mean everyone. Morgan, if it weren't for your work, I am certain we wouldn't have surveyed half of the distance currently recorded. And what good is any of this," she gestured broadly to the building, "if not for those that are yet to come? And you will find them. I am certain of that." Morgan managed to unfrown his face somewhat and look around the table. 

"I wanted to take this time to thank all of you. For my son's health, for the hard work that you all perform every day. For making this dream come true," Devon stated. "I just don't know how to express what I feel for all of you. You are closer than family. I feel honored to know all of you, and gifted to have you as my friends." 

Danziger stood suddenly, and touched her softly on the arm. "I'm not really one for speeches, but these idiots here gave me the responsibility." He shuffled about somewhat nervously and then said, "Devon, when we first reached this place we all decided to name this town Adair. But you vetoed it. You said you wanted it to be named for all of us. I don't know who came up with Roanoke Colony, but..." he glanced up to see Baines. "Oh yeah, it was Baines who came up with the idea that we should name this town after the ship that brought us here." 

He glanced around again, "Now where was I? Oh yeah. Well since we couldn't honor you by naming our town after you, we wanted to give you something special." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package, wrapped in cloth. "We all pitched in to get you this."

Devon took the package from Danziger and looked at the others, puzzling over what they could have gotten for her, so far from the nearest store. She pulled back the cloth and revealed a string of pearls. "Oh," she gasped, "The pearls!"

Danziger nodded, "Only the best ones. We all contributed."

They could hear Morgan whispering to Bess, "You didn't give them our good pearls, did you?" but she shushed him quickly.

"There are 16 pearls on the string. One for each of us here today."

"Even I am included," Zero spoke up. 

"Of course you are," Devon said as she held the string up to her neck. Danziger helped her put it on and she stood back from the rest, looking down at the necklace. "This is really wonderful. Thank you everyone."

"No problem," Danziger said with a smile. 

"Hand it over!" Morgan hissed to Alonzo, who sat across from him. Alonzo passed the jury-rigged VR-GEAR across to him and Morgan fiddled with the controls.

"It's gotta work," True said confidently as the devise sat silently. "It worked yesterday..."

"It better work," Morgan said. Suddenly a drum beat and a horn line was heard from the speaker and the big band music filled the air. "Hey, it works!" Morgan said.

The music played over them for a minute and then Alonzo swept Julia into the open area of the room, and Mazatl lead Denner out after them. Magus said, "What the hell," and dragged Walman with her onto their makeshift dance floor. Danziger took Devon's hand and then took her into his arms and they danced onto the floor to the sounds of Benny Goodman.

Uly picked up Amelia and twirled her about slowly, making the baby laugh. Yale bowed to True and said, "May I have the pleasure of this dance?" and True gracefully took his hand. Bess leaned against Morgan and the two of them swayed in their seats.

Baines and Cameron tried to look interested in drinking the berry wine, until Magus suddenly abandoned Walman and pulled Cameron onto the dance floor. Walman frowned and sat down in his seat. Mazatl suddenly tired, and Baines shot up to take his place, spinning Denner madly across the floor. Magus used Cameron to impede their path and almost knocked down all four of them. Zero tapped his foot to the music and hoped they would play a song with lyrics.

And the Dining Hall was filled with laughter until the sky grew dark and the moons rose high into the sky.

* * * *

Devon and John walked out into the moonlight. Her pearl necklace glowed next to her skin in the pale light. "You know, you are wonderful," John said softly to her.

The waves gently lapped against the shore as they moved along the beach. "Tell me more," Devon said. 

"You know we could never have accomplished any of this without you." He looked into her eyes. "You are the string that holds the whole thing together."

"So now I am string?" Devon asked.

"Mighty important string," Danziger answered.

They watched as the party slowly broke up. Morgan had already taken Amelia to bed. Then the children were sent to sleep. Slowly the others left the Cook House, as Devon and John sat in the darkness and listen to the surf. Denner, Mazatl and Bess stayed to clean up. When those three finally emerged from the Cook House, it was quite late and growing cold. John held Devon tightly to him, wrapping her up in his coat. "Let's stay here forever," John whispered to her. 

"It's too cold," Devon said with a laugh. "We should be going in now. Mazatl is going to be on night watch tonight. He'll wonder what we're up too."

"Let him wonder. Weren't we thinking of quitting the night watch anyway? Maybe tonight's a good night to start." John said, "Let's just stay a little longer." They watched Bess walk across the compound to the CommDish. 

* * * * 

Bess quietly opened the door to her home and entered the electronics bay. Morgan was in his chair, wearing his GEAR, with Amelia curled up in his arms, both of them asleep. Bess carefully put the equipment into 'night mode' and took the GEAR from her husband's head. He didn't wake up until she lifted Amelia from his arms. "Shhhh," she said when he started to say something. She carried the baby to her room and laid her in the crate that served as her crib. They would be outgrowing this tiny place soon. Amelia would need a larger room once she started walking, and of course they would need another bedroom soon enough. She wondered when she should start talking to Morgan about having another child. She knew it was good for him to have another person to love and trust him so completely. If nothing else, Amelia needed a sibling to keep her from becoming too badly spoiled. She looked at her daughter in the low light of the nursery. She had Morgan's smile and his hands. 

Bess walked back to the electronics bay and found Morgan asleep again. "Morgan, honey," she whispered.

"Hmm?" he woke up again and smiled when he saw her, "Is it morning already?"

"No, its time for bed." She pulled on one of his arms to get him to his feet, but realized that was a plan that would fail. He was half asleep again already. Instead, she pushed on the back of the chair and started wheeling him down the hall.

"A free ride?" he yawned and obligingly hooked his right foot under his left and lifted his legs. Bess pushed him into the bedroom and dragged him onto the bed.

"You are hopeless when you're sleepy, you know that?" she said as she pulled off his shirt.

Morgan yawned again. "Hopelessly hopeless." he muttered, and she carefully worked off his shoes.

She threw back the blankets and maneuvered him under them, laughing quietly when she realized that he was purposely making it harder on her. "There!" she said, once she had him settled in bed. "Now go to sleep!"

"Now that you got me all woke up, I don't know if I can," he said, looking up at her.

"I don't think you'll have any problem," she said, and was right. He was asleep again, before she could dress for bed and climb in beside him. She rested her head for a moment on his chest and sighed. "You work too hard," she said softly and kissed him on the temple. He smiled in his sleep. 

She lay beside her husband in the dark for several minutes, listening to him breath, hearing the slight sounds that Amelia made in the next room. When she was a child, Bess thought her life was destined to end on a wasted earth, beneath a murdered sky. Yet here she was, on a beautiful planet, in her own home, with a husband and child whom she loved more than she knew how to say. She felt richer than the Queen of Sheeba with all her gold and jewels. For Bess, her family and friends were all the pearls she required. 

Beyond the CommDish, the Cook House, the Great House, the Hospital and the Adair home, the ocean played against the String of Pearls. She closed her eyes, curled up against Morgan and fell asleep

****

THE END 

* * *

__

Okay, that's it. As I said before, not a very exciting story. I tried to write this story as a 'string of pearls', with each scene a separate incident, strung to the next incident. Do you know the name of the song that Morgan played at the party? Well, you can probably guess. 

[Drop me a note, let me know what you think. Even if it's just to complain. You can say nice things too.][1]

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	8. The Still Pond

__

This story is based on the TV series Earth 2. I'm not meaning to infringe on anything! Don't sue me! I'm not getting anything out of this except the thrill of those wonderful comments that some folks feel decent enough to send me. 

This is part of this terribly long saga that I have been writing. You should probably read them first, but you could get away with just reading this one by itself. It's a "Morgan" story, but fear not, as with all my stories, you should see a fair sampling of everyone.

****

The Still Pond 

* * *

John Danziger pulled up on the reins and came to a halt beside the auburn-haired woman on her roan horse. "Hey,Adair," he drawled.

Devon Adair smiled at him. "What took you so long?" she asked, before clicking her tongue at her horse, Everett, and talking off at a quick trot. 

Danziger smiled and encouraged his horse, Pal, to follow. They headed out of Roanoke Colony and into the hills that surrounded it. They were soon traveling, side by side, not exactly racing, but not allowing the other to get ahead. Then, with a smile, Devon pulled up on her horse, and Danziger shot past. 

She waited, as he turned Pal and headed back to her. "What's up?" he asked.

"Listen," she said. Beyond the sounds of the breathing horses there was nothing but silence. "It's so quiet today. There's no wind at all."

"Yeah, it's a nice day," he agreed. The winds of winter were over. Spring had broken with its usual explosion of color. The hillsides were covered with wildflowers, and the still air was sweet with their fragrance. "If I knew I had a chance, I would choose a day like this to ask you to marry me."

Devon looked away quickly, "You know how I'd answer," she said quietly.

"Yeah," he frowned, "You've been saying it for years. Not until the Colony Ship arrives." He shook his head slowly, "Adair, it's been four years and the ship's still lost. Have you ever considered that it's never coming?"

"I know it will come," she replied, "And I just have to ask for you to wait a little longer. Once everything is done, once this is all settled, then I will be able to marry you, John Danziger."

"I'll wait I guess. If that's all I can do," he said tiredly. 

She leaned across the expanse between their two horses, and took his hand. She was about to say something, when John snatched his hand away.

"Oh, crap," John grumbled, staring at something over her shoulder.

Devon, startled by this outburst, turned to find what John had seen. The ATV was approaching from around a hill, and John maneuvered to intercept it. She frowned, wondering what brought on that reaction. The ATV had been given to Morgan, when everyone else was learning to ride horseback. Sure, it would be an annoyance to have him interrupt their discussion, but they could lose him easily enough if they went into the woods. 

It was only when the vehicle was closer that she realized that no one was driving it.

She drove her heels into Everett's sides and quickly caught up to John and the vehicle. He had just commanded the machine to stop when she reached him. Devon pulled her GEAR off her belt and tried to connect with the liaison, while John jumped down from his horse and looked over the ATV. "His GEAR isn't turned on," she grumbled.

"Oh, that's smart." John said, shuffling through Morgan's travel bag, and looking through the neatly packed supplies. "He takes off for the day and doesn't even bother to turn on his GEAR. How can he be so stupid?"

Devon considered responding to that comment, but decided it wasn't worth the argument. "I have to contact Bess," she said. "She's out with Cameron and the girls on the islands."

"Hold off on that," Danziger threw the bag back together and climbed back on the horse. "Nothing here to give us a clue about what happened to him. Let's see where the ATV takes us before we start scaring Bess. He's probably just out somewhere messing around in VR and didn't realize he set the vehicle on automatic return mode."

"All right," Devon agreed. "You are probably right about that."

Danziger set the vehicle to retrace its track, and the two of them followed on horseback. The vehicle led them a half kilometer along a hillside and to the edge of a still pond. It was only once they rounded the last bend that they came across Morgan sitting on a rock, looking out over the water, his GEAR dangling from his hands. He was doing absolutely nothing.

"Hey, Morgan!" Danziger said, swinging down from his horse. "What the hell are you doing?"

Morgan turned slowly to face them and smiled pleasantly. "Hello," he said simply and turned back to the water. 

Danziger moved until he was standing in front of Morgan. "What's the deal here? Why'd you send the ATV back by itself? That was pretty stupid to leave yourself out here without it. It's a good thing we didn't call Bess. We would have scared her half to death. What were you thinking?" 

Morgan raised his eyes slowly to meet the mechanic's. "I don't know," he said and then he lowered his gaze again, adjusting it slightly to see around the mechanic. 

Danziger was puzzled, this definitely wasn't the response he was expecting. "Hey, Adair," he said, "I think something's wrong with him. He's acting kinda funny. I mean, not that Morgan acting kinda funny is different that normal, but..."

"Danziger," Devon said as she climbed down from her horse, "What's going on?"

Danziger squatted down to meet Morgan's gaze again. "Morgan, are you all right? Did something happen?"

He shrugged slightly, "I don't remember." 

Danziger frowned, "What's your name. Morgan, can you tell me your name."

Again, he smiled pleasantly, "It is Morgan."

"Danz, you've been saying it to him a half dozen time's already," Devon said, joining them at the water's edge.

"And you are Adair and you are Danz... iger." Morgan said, nodding slightly. The two of them looked at each other and then back at the liaison. There was something too vacant about his stare, too slow and calculated about his answers.

"Okay then, what's your last name?" Devon said.

Morgan sat quietly for a minute and then said, "You haven't said that one yet."

Devon turned on her GEAR while John, sitting on his heels, examined Morgan as best he could. Morgan compliantly let John turn his head slowly, looking for any sign of a contusion or injury. Morgan smiled at him again when their eyes met. Danziger couldn't help but note that there was something missing in that glance. When Devon looked down at them John shrugged.

"Let's get him in the ATV and back to the colony," Devon said when she ended her transmission. "Julia wants to get a look at him, and Bess is probably halfway across the bay already.

"Come on, Morgan," John said, grabbing Morgan by the arm, "Let's getcha back home again so Julia can get a look at you." He got the man halfway to his feet, when Morgan cried out suddenly and grabbed his knee as he sat down again.

"What was that?" he looked back and forth between them stupidly, "Something's wrong. It hurts. Okay, it's okay now." 

"He didn't twist his knee up again, did he?" Devon said with concern.

"I don't know. Maybe he just forgot about the old injury." Danziger held up his crutch that had been sitting beside him. "You broke up your knee a while back. You need this to get around. Remember?"

Morgan wordlessly took the crutch from Danziger. Devon brought the ATV over, and between the two of them they managed to get Morgan back into the ATV and directed it back to the colony. 

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Danziger asked as they followed the vehicle back to their home.

"It must be some sort of amnesia," Devon answered. "Other that that, I don't have the faintest idea."

* * * *

Morgan compliantly withstood Julia's examination, answering all of her questions. Unfortunately most of the answers were "I don't know." Bess sat beside him, attentively. He glanced at her from time to time, smiled vacantly and looked back to Julia. Finally, they left him to sleep in the hospital and joined the rest of the group in the courtyard.

"Is Daddy okay?" Amelia said seriously. 

"He's going to be okay, honey," Bess leaned down to kiss her. "Why don't you take Sarah and Hugh, and go play in the dining hall, okay? True and Uly are in there right now."

Amelia, only three years old, frowned. "But I don't want to. I want to see Daddy." She had curly brown hair like her mother, like her sister. Both children looked very much like their mother. Hugh Solace was dark headed and featured like his father, but had his mother's eyes.

Bess rested her hand for a moment on the Amelia's head. "I need you to be a big girl right now. Do like Mommy says."

Again, she frowned, but corralled her sister and young Solace, and led them toward the dining hall within the Cook House. Hugh and Sarah were both determined to crawl faster than the older girl could walk, but Amelia was too stubborn to let them win. Sarah, two months older than Hugh, gave up crawling for a few tentative steps, and lost the race entirely. When they reached the dining hall, Amelia looked back at her mother, started to say something, but stopped. She impatiently helped the two younger children into the building and shut the door behind them.

Danziger couldn't help but think that Amelia was acting more like Morgan than Morgan.

"So what's up?" Alonzo asked, "He can't remember anything?"

Julia sighed, "He apparently has some form of amnesia, but I have been unable to verify why. I haven't found any sign of injury. He's responsive..."

"Not very," Danziger put in. "I mean, you ask him a question and he takes ten minutes to answer it."

"He does seem to remember everything from the moment you found him," Julia said, "And I do mean everything. He can repeat verbatim anything anyone has said to him."

"That's weird." Walman said, "That must mean something."

"Or it might not mean anything," Julia responded. "He has always had a good memory, just look at how he can handle those computer programs. He can almost write the whole thing in his head. If he's working from a clean slate, he's probably filling his memory with whatever he can get ahold of."

"So what's wrong with him then?" Magus crossed her arms. "You say he didn't get hurt."

"It could be an old injury. Several come to mind," Julia said.

"Maybe it has something to do with that koba bite?" Denner suggested, she was about five months pregnant now, and doted upon by Mazatl.

"We all have that koba stuff in us now," Baines said with some alarm. "Are we all going to blank out like that?"

Yale added, "It could be another form of the planet trying to reject us..."

"After over five years?" Walman snorted, "Hell, you think it would have gotten around to it by now. I bet it has something to do with VR. I mean, after all the time he has spent in VR, on top of the time he's hooked up with GEAR to the CommDish, I bet it overload his brain circuits. Pffft! Blackout!"

"He hardly ever uses VR anymore," Bess said so quietly that nobody heard. 

"What do YOU think happened to him?" Alonzo asked Julia.

"He had a pretty bad concussion when you found him at the river. I thought I had it taken care of. I was monitoring him for that while I still had the medical equipment..." Julia trailed off.

"That was four years ago," Devon stated.

"The brain is a tricky thing. This is something that could have been building up this whole time. Damn it!" Julia wished she had something nearby to knock down. "If I only had my DiaGlove I could look into his head and see if anything is wrong and stop this damn speculation."

Bess sighed quietly and said, "Is he going to be okay?"

Julia touched her lightly on the arm, "I think he's going to be all right, Bess. He seems fine except for the memory loss, and with any luck we can get that back. We just have to be very supportive. We'll move him back into his own home as soon as possible. Show him around the electronics bay, get him back to work at scanning. With any luck it will all come back to him."

Bess nodded, "I am going to go see how he's doing."

"He's sedated right now, Bess. I need him to sleep for a while. Maybe this will all be over when he wakes up."

"I just need to sit with him for a while," Bess said and headed to the hospital.

The rest of them stood around for several minutes, glancing uneasily at each other. Everything had been going so well for the past few years. The only blot on their existence was the continual absence of the colony-ship. Otherwise, everything was so good. There were four married couples now, three children with at least one more on the way. They had several fishing boats, a paddock of tamed horses, a pasture of goats, a pen of chickens. They had built a dozen structures now, including a windmill out of left over pieces of the TransRover. They had good relations with the local Grendlers, and while they hadn't come much closer to understanding the Terrians, they were at least learning to accept them without the fear they once triggered.

They plowed and planted huge fields, and harvested a considerable amount of food throughout the year. They wove their own fabric, irrigated their crops and ran an impressive sewer system. It didn't seem fair that something like this should happen now.

* * * *

Bess sewed quietly, with Amelia asleep on one side of her and Sarah playing happily with a bit of cord on the other side. They occupied one of the beds in the new hospital. The old hospital was now solely used for the Solace family. The new hospital, over a year old now, was a much larger structure, with 20 beds, a surgery, an office, and two consultation rooms. Bess sat in the daylight, which streamed through the open window and glanced over at her sleeping husband.

His eyes were open this time. "Morgan?" she said quietly.

He turned and looked at her. "Hello," he said.

"How are you feeling?" She set down her sewing and placed her hands on each of her children.

"I was asleep," was his answer. He made no attempt to sit up or move anything more than his head.

"You know who I am though, don't you?"

"You are Bess." There was something about the way he spoke that made it painfully obvious to her that he had not changed.

"Do you know who this is?" she indicated the sleeping child beside her. "What's her name?"

He silently looked at Amelia for several moments and then looked back at Bess. "Is that Denner?" he asked.

Bess climbed out from between the two children and knelt down on the floor beside Morgan's bed. "You must remember who they are. These are your children. Please Morgan, you named Amelia after me, my middle name. Do you remember why we named Sarah? You said it meant 'Princess.' You have to remember who we are."

"You are Bess, Amelia and Sarah," he said. 

She kissed him on his forehead and looked into his vacant eyes, "Morgan, you must know me. If you don't know who I am then I don't know what I am going to do."

"You are Bess," he said again.

She grasped him forcefully by his shirt and pulled him into a seated position. "Where are you Morgan? You've got to come back to me. I can't do this without you. I need you to know me. Please Morgan!" She strongly shook him as she spoke and Sarah looked on with some concern. "Snap out of it!"

Julia suddenly entered the ward. She had been sitting in her office, waiting. "Bess!" She caught Bess by her arms and forced her to release her husband. Morgan looked from Bess to Julia and said nothing. "Bess, you have to be careful," Julia scolded softly. And then she turned to Morgan. "How are you feeling today?" she asked. Morgan had slept through the night and most of the following day. 

"I am well," he answered.

Julia sighed and looked at Bess, "I am going to run some tests on him now. I'll help you take the kids home. You should get some rest."

Bess nodded numbly and picked up the still sleeping Amelia. Julia reached down for Sarah who wrapped her chubby arms around her neck and babbled into her ear. The two women walked out of the hospital and into the evening light. 

"He doesn't know me," Bess said sadly. 

"Give him some time," Julia said reassuringly.

Bess cradled Amelia's head against her shoulder and said coldly, "How do you know he will recover at all?"

Julia stopped her. "He is experiencing some sort of amnesia, we just have to wait a bit and see what happens. He's going to be okay, Bess. It is possible that he will never regain all of his memory, but I'm sure he's going to be fine."

"You're not even sure if this is due to something that happened to him four years ago, or something that happened yesterday. For all you know, this is going to kill him and you don't even know what's going on," Bess said bitterly.

"Bess..." Julia tried to say something reassuring as they reached the Martin household, but she pulled away.

Bess banged open their front door with her shoulder. The house, half CommDish, half-wooden structure, reverberated with the sound of the door slamming open. Amelia woke with a start and looked around. "Mommy? Where's Daddy? I wanted to talk to Daddy." 

Bess rubbed the girl soothingly on her back. "I'm sorry honey. Daddy isn't feeling like himself right now. We'll see him later." Bess set the drowsy girl on her feet and took her other daughter from Julia. "He doesn't even know me," she whispered to the doctor and shut the door between them.

* * * *

Julia returned to the new hospital and spent several hours talking to Morgan. It was strange to see him this way. He responded to everything she said, but there was something missing in his eyes. They lacked the sly contemplation, shifty apprehension, the sarcastic wit or even the occasional quiet kindness she was used to seeing.

Finally, she brought him around to the windows and pointed out the structures, as the sky grew dark. "That's the Cook House," she said, indicating the long low kitchen and dining hall. 

"That is where food is cooked?" he asked.

Julia nodded and sighed. "That's the windmill. We built it to pump water, grind grain and generate electricity. We only had so many power generators and with all of our buildings we were running out of power. We ended up using the frame of the TransRover for the tower, since we had already used the engine and solar cells for the hospital. You helped in the design. Do you remember that?" Morgan only looked dully at the tower, so she continued. "And that's my house. I live there with Alonzo and Hugh. Do you remember Hugh and Alonzo?"

"No," he said quickly and pointed to another structure. "What is that?"

"That's your home." Julia hoped he had recognized it.

"It has a communication dish."

"Yes, you've been using it to look for the colony ship. You've been searching for the ship since we reached this area. You probably have the most intricate record of the nearby star systems. Do you remember anything about that?"

"I am the one that keeps the records?" Morgan asked.

"Yes Morgan, you do," Julia answered. She thought for a moment that he might be remembering something, but instead he only seemed disappointed.

* * * *

"Crazy, huh?" Cameron said, slapping his hands against his arms in the chill of a spring night. 

"Yeah, just kinda crazy," Baines replied, taking the MagPro from Cameron. They were on night watch. The first night watch in years. Devon was concerned about what might have affected Morgan, so she decided to re-institute the long discarded custom, for at least the next few evenings.

"It's been real quiet," Cameron said as the two walked along the western edge of Roanoke Colony. "I don't think that there's anything to worry about. I think Devon's on the wrong track. I mean, as many times as Morgan's been knocked silly, I'm surprised that something like this hasn't happened to him before."

"Still," Baines said, examining the weapon, "You can't be too careful. Wanna hang out with me for a while? It's still pretty early."

Cameron shrugged. "I'd rather go to bed."

"Come on, I'll get some of that Vino Magus from the storeroom and we'll have a great time."

Cameron chuckled. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt if we sampled some of the new vintage."

Baines started toward the Cook House, when he suddenly stopped. "What the hell is that!" Baines cried, jumping back toward Cameron. Cameron spun in time to see something dark and low to the ground flash past him. "What the hell!" Baines cried again as he took off toward the Great House. "Spiders! Giant spiders!"

Cameron tried to split his attention between his fleeing comrade and the huge hairy arachnid that had just flashed across the compound. He knew that discretion was the better part of valor, and since the MagPro went with discretion, he decided to follow.

****

"The Great House Plan" was put into effect for the rest of the night. Everyone moved out of out of their own comfortable homes and into the Great House. With all the new structures, separated by wide strips of grass, Devon felt it safest to bring everyone into one building for the night. Cameron, Baines and Yale already had apartments in the building. The others moved into the sparse rooms that lined the structure. 

Walman grumbled as he and Magus moved into one of the small rooms. They had married last spring, but Lenina Magus refused to take Walman's last name, and everyone still called her by her maiden name. Elisha Denner found her old room for herself and her husband. Roberto Mazatl, since nobody could spell his surname, decided to take 'Denner' as his last name. In spite of the marriages, Magus was still Magus and Mazatl was still Mazatl. Old habits die hard.

Devon sat beside Yale, Baines and Cameron at the fire. "You say it was some kind of spider?"

"It was about so tall," Baines said, indicating about a half-meter off the ground. "Big, hairy and ugly. It had these fangs and grotesque eyes bobbing up above its head. Geez, I hope it didn't see me."

Devon turned to Cameron and he spoke, "I didn't get as good a look at it as he did. I mostly just saw a lot of moving legs. It was black, except for this strange brownish thing on top of it. Couldn't tell you what that was. It moved fast."

Devon nodded, knowing that Danziger had taken Zero out to patrol the grounds with him. Now there were giant spiders to contend with. It always seemed that when one thing bad happened, everything went bad.

* * * *

Alonzo woke with a start in their small apartment in the Great House. Julia, awakened from a light sleep, turned over and looked up at him, "What is it?"

"I was on the DreamPlane," Alonzo said, shaking his head. 

"What did the Terrians want?" Julia sat up beside him, concerned. It had been a long time since the Terrians had contacted them. From time to time they would appear in the colony, mostly to see Uly. Uly would leave with them for days at a stretch. The Terrians seemed to prefer the interior of the continent to the coastline and had rarely visited in recent months.

"I couldn't tell for sure. It was as if something was trying to stop us from communicating, like there was a wall between us. They were trying to tell me something about that thing that Baines saw."

"Are we in any danger?" Julia looked over at their sleeping child in a container beside them

"I couldn't tell for sure. There was something important about that spider. It was like an omen or something." He shook his head again. "They were trying to warn us about something that comes with the spider, but I couldn't understand what they wanted to tell me." He held out his hand for a moment, "And there was something about a device."

"A device?" Julia leaned over and stroked Hugh softly. The boy sighed in his sleep.

"It was all pretty confusing. All I know is that the Terrians needed us to stop it."

"Stop what? I don't understand." 

"I don't know exactly what it was either. I just know that we can't let 'it' get away with whatever 'it' is trying to do. Everything depends on that."

* * * *

"Do you think it had something to do with that?" Walman said, indicating Morgan who was sitting by the fire, staring into the flames. True was sitting beside him, while Bess tended to the children.

Alonzo shrugged, "I don't know. I just know that something else is going on. Something we don't know about."

"I got the same idea," Uly said glumly. He was growing tall and strong. Whenever the Terrians took him, he returned, somewhat older in his demeanor. At the same time, in spite of everything, he was rather childish still about a many things. "It's like the Terrians can't even talk to me."

Devon nodded. "I think we should all stay close to home today. Let's stay in groups when we go out to do our chores. Try and stay in the Great House as much as possible"

"I'm telling you," Baines was saying to Walman, "That spider thing musta gotten Morgan. I know he doesn't have any bite marks, but maybe it hypnotized him or spit some spider juice on him or something."

True watched Morgan sadly. She had long considered Morgan her friend. He had been one of the first people to talk to her like an equal. At fifteen, she had grown into a lovely young woman but still most of the other colonists treated her like a kid out of habit.

Morgan was so unlike himself. She could always tell when Morgan was thinking, his whole face seemed to contort and change as thoughts passed through him. Now, he seemed almost a blank. But, she did noticed little things now; he made movements that were not at all like his normal behavior.

Alonzo walked over to where Bess sat with the children, and picked up his dark headed Hugh. "Dah-dee!" he said and punched his father in the nose. Alonzo chuckled softly and looked at Bess. She was distractedly playing with the girls, glancing over at Morgan.

Devon sighed and walked around the room slowly. She looked again at her son. He was only thirteen, but growing quite rapidly into a young man. She couldn't help but marvel. She had spent so many years in his younger life, hoping and praying for a miracle. The miracle was before her now. As she looked at him, he seemed so familiar, so much like his father, and so much like...

There was a sudden and violent pounding at the door, and then Grendlers entered the room. 

"Agnes! Ed!' Yale said, standing to greet them. Yale grunted and snorted and growled at the two Grendlers and their little one. The Grendlers shuffled from side to side until he finished and then the largest of the group started to grunt back at him. True joined them and between the four creatures, a cacophony of noises filled the room. 

When they finally stopped, Yale turned to Devon, "They don't know anything about giant spiders. And they couldn't think of what might have happened to Morgan. They came by to see if we knew what was wrong with the Terrians and why the Terrians were trying to contact them."

The two large creatures lumbered over to the fireside and looked down at Morgan, grumbling, growling and poking him. Their child, Ted, waddled over to where Amelia and Sarah were playing with rough blocks. Of course, the child had his own name in the Grendler's own language, just like his parents, but because many of the Advancers could not quite form their lips around the words, the Grendlers congenially accepted human names along with their own. The two human children welcomed the pudgy child and soon the three of them were babbling in a language all their own.

Morgan did not turn to face the Grendlers, but rather sat quietly by the fire. Morgan was one of the most fluent Grendler speakers of the group. True, Yale and Morgan could all converse quiet easily with the huge creatures. Alonzo, Uly and Bess could hold simple conversations, while the others knew enough words to sometimes get their points across. The children of course, learned Grendler as they grew. They promised to become excellent speakers of the language. 

The others in the group waited for Morgan to make a response, but he made none at all, only sitting and looking into the fire. True leaned close to him, "Did you understand what they said to you?"

"No," Morgan replied, unmoving.

"So he knows our language, but has lost the ability to understand the Grendlers," Yale noted. True frowned at this comment.

Denner sighed, "Well, I guess we could invite our guests to breakfast. I made five meat pies yesterday. We could just bring 'em over here if that works for everyone."

"I'll go!' Magus said, grabbing Walman and Cameron. "We need to get out of here for a while anyway." And they were out the door in a flash.

The Grendlers found a place to sit near the children. Hugh struggled to be released from his father and soon the four children, Grendler and human alike, were crawling over Ed and Agnes, laughing. 

Alonzo smiled, watching his son trying to outdo the two older girls. He still found it hard to believe that he had a child. When Morgan and Bess announced that they were expecting their first child, he was appalled, wondering how they could dare bring a baby into this wilderness without assurance of modern medical equipment. Yet when Amelia arrived, and instantly became everyone's sweetheart, he couldn't help but think about how nice it would be to have his own child. He and Julia had discussed the possibility endlessly, but could not come to a decision on a timeframe. Then, when Bess was expecting her second child, they finally decided that the time was ripe, or they'd never catch up to the Martins.

Bess, relieved of her baby-sitting responsibilities, sat down beside Morgan and touched him softly on the arm. "Morgan, please try to remember me. It's very important. You must."

"I remember that you are Bess," he said complacently.

She took his head in her hands and kissed him, as passionately and as long as she could. The others in the room turned away, blushing slightly. The Grendlers hooted encouragingly Bess stood back and looked again into his stupid eyes.

"Hey," Walman said, as he banged into the room, a pie in each hand, "Did you say four or five pies?" Magus and Cameron followed, with one pie each.

"Five," Denner said confidently, "I made five pies. Didn't you find them in the cupboard?"

"There were only four there," Cameron commented. "It must be your hormones going crazy. You can't count anymore."

Denner lay her hand on her pregnant stomach and said, "I can count to five."

In the midst of their discussion Bess was backing across the room, away from her husband. "That's not Morgan," she said under her breath. "That is not Morgan."

Julia caught up with her. "Of course it is, Bess. Just give him a little time. You can't do this to him right now. Remember when he was hurt at the river. He had some memory loss then. Remember what he was like?"

"He knew me then," Bess said flatly. "He knew who I was. This is not Morgan. Morgan would know me."

* * * *

"Hey! You stupid jerks!" Morgan Martin beat on the door until his hands ached, "Listen to me you bastards! Let me out of here! I'm a married man. I got kids! Hey! Listen to me!" The door rattled and shook, but did not open. "Open up! Come on already! I don't do well in small places. Let me out!" He stopped his tirade and listened for a moment. Nothing.

He limped back to the bed and sat down heavily, trying not to look at the walls. As long as he tried to ignore the walls, they wouldn't close in on him. He sighed and tried to find something to look at. The room was almost empty. Besides the pitiful excuse for a bed, there were two buckets on either side of the room: one with fresh water, the other to use as a toilet. Grass, nutshells and other refuse were scattered across the floor. There was no window, only a dim light imbedded in the ceiling.

He didn't know how long he had been held here. He remembered stopping the ATV by the side of a still pond. He had sat down on a convenient rock and looked out quietly at the reflective surface of the water, listening to the silence. A perfect place for a little bit of VR drums. He was about to put on his GEAR, when something hit him, knocking him to the coarse sand of the shoreline. It held him down, immobilizing him. He shouted a command to the ATV to send it home; that was all he could manage. Maybe someone would see it and figure out that he was in trouble. He could feel himself blacking out, like a dark curtain being drawn over him, as he looked out at the mountains across the pond. The last thing he saw was the mirror image of mountains in the water.

And then he woke up here. He quickly discovered that his GEAR was gone, and his crutch was missing too. Not that it mattered very much, he wasn't going anywhere. There was only one way in or out of the room, and that was through the metal door. The room seemed to be carved out of solid rock.

It was cold in the room. He rubbed his hands together, and carefully rubbed his aching knee. He wished he had some of that jelly-fish-jelly right now. Good luck getting any of that. He was lucky getting anything edible to eat. 

There was a covered slot at the bottom of the door. Shortly after he had first came-to, a bunch of club-nuts and holiday berries came through the slot. All inedible. They were scattered around the room right now. He found a cracked club-nut by the bed and picked it up to smack it against the opposite wall. Some unknown amount of time later, an unripe red-fruit and a bundle of grass was forced through the slot. What did they think he was, a horse? He was afraid that he would starve to death when the meat pie arrived.

It was a curious thing, because it was obviously one of Denner's pies. The pie had her trademark "D" cut into the crust, and was baked in one of the colony's pans. He glanced at the empty pan beside him, and felt uneasy about it. Somebody had to get into the Cook House to get the pie. That meant that they had to go into the colony. "Keep your hands off my wife you stinking bastards!" he screamed at the door again and flung the empty pan at it. The pan careened off the door and collided with the wall behind him. "Stay away from my kids. Leave all the kids alone. Stay away from my friends!" He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he sat quietly again and wondered what those friends were doing and why they weren't going about saving him. He had to have been here for over a day. Why hadn't they come? Didn't anyone care? He covered his eyes again and tried not to think of small confined places.

* * * *

Morgan hobbled across the compound between the crutches. He came to a stop and looked back at the others following him.

"We don't want you to overdo it," Julia said as she caught up with the liaison. "Let's just get you to your home and have you look around there a bit to start.' Although Devon felt it would probably be best to keep the group together in the Great House for one more day, Morgan insisted on seeing the electronics bay of the CommDish.

"He's doing pretty good on those crutches," Danziger said to Devon. "I mean, it's kinda like he's just learning to use them. He's gotten the knack of them really fast."

"Maybe it's part of his memory coming through," Devon said, although she still remember his surprise at discovering his old injury.

Bess followed them, glaring at Morgan. True walked with her, holding her hand. The girl was thinking seriously about something she had seen and wondered if it was worth mentioning. 

When they reached the CommDish and entered the electronics bay, Morgan looked around carefully, yet emotionlessly. "I am the only one that runs this machine?" he asked no one in particular.

"Well, we've all run this thing from time to time, but you are the one who keeps the records and charts the whole mess," Danziger explained. "You're the only one who thinks any of this is interesting." He shrugged.

Devon leaned forward and spoke quietly to Morgan, "Are you sure you're up to this? Maybe you would like to try this later, with fewer people."

"Where's the log?" Morgan said, touching one of the keyboards tentatively. "If I could see the scan-log I am sure I would remember it."

Bess sank back slightly, against True. Devon was about to speak again, but Walman spoke first, "You see," he said, "That's the thing. We were trying to get things set up here before you came over. I couldn't get into the scan-log though. It's locked."

"Locked..." Morgan looked up from the counsel, his voice betraying a slight degree of displeasure. "Unlock it."

"We would if we could, but you're the one that locked it. You put some sort of cipher on it. See?" Walman pulled up the screen that was locked with a security password. "Can't get beyond it. Now, if you could remember the password we could get into the scan-log."

"I don't remember it. I have amnesia," Morgan said. "Someone else must know."

"Nobody knows the password but Morgan," Bess said quietly.

"Come on, Bess. He didn't even tell you?" Walman asked incredulously.

"When he put the cipher on the log over two years ago. He said that I didn't need to know it," Bess stated, "I trusted him to know what was best. I trust my husband."

Danziger looked up at Devon. "This is pretty serious," he said quickly. "If we don't have a way into that log, then all the work he's done for all those years is lost." He looked back down at Morgan, who was sitting unmoved in his seat. "I can't believe you let him lock the log without telling anyone else the password."

Devon nodded. "I can't explain the things he does," she responded. 

Morgan stood up suddenly and, almost as an afterthought, grabbed the crutches beside him. "That is enough for now. I think I will go lie down now. Do I sleep here or in the other building?"

"Until we can find out what is going on with the spiders and the Terrians and everything, I think we had all better stay in the Great House," Devon replied.

Morgan headed out the door and into the compound. After he left, True finally spoke, "I don't think that's Morgan either."

"What?" Devon said with a start. 

"That's not Morgan," she said emphatically. "It looks like Morgan, but that's about it."

"Why do you think it's not him? He can't help it if he's not acting like himself right now." Julia said.

"If it is Morgan, then he is lying," True said, looking over at Bess. "He understood Ed and Agnes. He understood every word they said."

"How do you know that?" Danziger asked.

"Do you ever watch this guy when you're talking to him? It's like he's processing what he hears. He lowers his head a little while you are talking. Then, he pauses and looks up. It's like he has to think about what to do and say. Every time you talk, he does this. He doesn't do it when he hears other sounds." She looked around at the others in the room. "But he did do it when the Grendlers were speaking. He understood them and told us that he didn't." She pointed to the electronics bay. "And the only thing he was interested in is getting into the scan-log. Once he knew that was locked, he left."

"He limps differently," Julia added. "I thought it was just because he learned a different way to do it, but..." She paused and then added, "It almost as if he's faking it now. I don't know, I just had the impression that he hardly needs the crutches." Everyone was quiet for a moment

"And so that would mean that he isn't possessed by anything, like I was," Danziger said, as if thinking out loud. "If he was, he would still be needing the crutches."

"Come on you guys," Walman sputtered "Who else could it be? You are all just getting paranoid. I wish Baines hadn't gone to pieces like that when he saw the spider. It's got all of you on edge."

Julia then added, "And when I was showing him the buildings yesterday, the only thing he was really interested in was the CommDish. He wasn't really pleased when he found out who ran the thing."

"He was upset when he found out who ran the CommDish?" Danziger pressed Julia.

She nodded, "Thinking about it now, I am wondering..." She trailed off. "He wants the scan-log. I don't think he knows how to use the CommDish. Did you see how he sat here? He didn't have a clue about how to operate it. I think he was hoping he could talk to the person who ran the CommDish and get the scan-log from him. It kind of threw a monkey wrench in the works when he discovered he replaced the wrong person."

"What are you guys talking about!" Walman yelled. "This is crazy. You don't even know if any of this is true."

"Let's find him and get some answers," Danziger said, darting out the door, followed by Devon and finally Walman.

Bess started to cry, and True held her quietly, "They'll find him," she said assuredly, "The real Morgan... they'll get him back."

Danziger and Devon had run a few meters from the Martin house when they came to a halt. Walman ran up beside them. "Hey," he said. "Where did he go?"

****

"Wide open pastures.... ah, mountain valleys, Cameron's Pass... ah... okay." Morgan grimaced, squinting his eyes shut and tried to ignore the tightness of the room. It seemed to be getting smaller to him. "Snow fields - too cold. Don't think about cold. The desert, yeah that's a good one... the desert... big big things. Geez, I hate the desert. Too hot, too empty, too damn big." It wasn't working. He had started out by trying to put together VR programs in his head, but had tired of that after the seventh or eight program. Besides, if he lifted his concentration for one moment, the walls would start closing in on him again, and he would loose his place in the program and have to start over again with the basics. He started concentrating on something beyond the cell.

"Okay, all right, something really big. The ocean..." He tried to imagine the ocean. "On a nice day. A light breeze, a boat... I'm fishing for wal-fish. Yeah, okay. Got a big basket of sandwiches and a bottle of wine...oh, I could go for some of that right now. Stop it, Morgan, keep with the picture you got going here. Okay, Bess is in the boat." He could see her, smiling at him from the bow of the boat. Her eyes were so beautiful. He sighed and thought only of her for a moment. If he could only see her again, he'd be happy.

There was a sudden bang and the door to the room flew open. Bright light streamed in around a figure in the doorway and Morgan squinted against it. He hadn't realized that the room was so dim. It took him a moment to make out who was standing there.

"Danziger!" He spouted, jumping unsteadily his feet, "Hey, Danziger! You came to save me from this place. Geez, I don't think I've ever been happier to see YOU! Let's get the hell out of here, okay?" He grabbed for Danziger, but the man stepped away from him, blocking the door.

Morgan stared at the blocked door for a moment, "Let's get out of here. They've been keeping me here for I don't know how long. They've been in the colony! We gotta warn the others. Let's go."

Danziger regarded him quietly and then finally said, "Not yet."

"What?" Morgan looked at him, crestfallen. He sat back on the bed, "What do you mean they won't let me go? You came here to rescue me, didn't you?" 

"Not yet," he answered, his voice level, his face strangely still. "We must be assured of something before you will be released."

"But, you must get me out of here. Please Danziger, there's gotta be a way. It's making me crazy. I'm claustrophobic, you know that. I can't do small places."

"There is a problem. You have been impersonated at the colony," Danziger explained.

"What? How? What do you mean? Someone's impersonating me?" 

"We only recently discovered the forgery. A cunning shape-shifter assumed your identity. Now, I need to make sure that you are the real Morgan."

"Me? Of course it's me! Who else would I be?" Morgan was on his feet again, leaning against Danziger for support. "This shape-shifter, it hasn't hurt Bess has it? It hasn't touched my kids has it? Keep it away from the kids! You gotta tell me that the kids are okay. Danz, I'd do anything for them."

"I need to be assured that you are Morgan, and not another impersonator," Danziger repeated. "I need to test you. I have a question."

"Question, sure," Morgan said eagerly, "Sure I'll answer any question. Hey! Here's something only I would know. My middle name is Horatio. There, that will prove it."

"What is the password to unlock the scan-log?" Danziger said.

Morgan stopped, "The password? Why? Why do you want the password?"

"It is a test," Danziger answered. "If you answer the question, you will be released."

"The password?" Morgan repeated, his mind reeling, "But Devon... Devon said... Devon told me..." he stuttered. "Look Danz, ask me anything else. Ask me how many pearls are hidden over the middle crossbeam of my house. Ask me about my favorite color. It's gray! Not just any old gray, but that kind of gray with a little bit of blue in it. Only Bess knows that. Ask her. Ask me anything!" 

"Tell me the password to the scan-log."

"But, I can't tell you that."

Danziger nodded curtly, and shoved Morgan back on the bed. Danziger exited the room, slamming the door behind him. Morgan limped across the short distance and tried to pull open the door, but it remained impassable. He pounded on the door, helplessly, "Don't leave me Danziger! Please don't leave me here!"

The damn password. Why did Danziger want the freaking password? "Morgan Martin, you are an idiot," he muttered to himself. Why didn't he just give Danziger the password. You'd be out of here now if you'd only said it. He wiped his arm across his eyes and breathed deeply. This was wrong. This was all very wrong. Why would Danziger demand that password, of all things? It was funny too, Danziger's reaction to the middle name, Horatio. Morgan was sure it would elicit a smirk or something from the mechanic, who was always ready to find some reason to laugh at the liaison. But of course, it was a bad choice of proof. Morgan then recalled that everyone had heard his middle name at the wedding. It surprised him now that Danziger didn't make note of that either. That wasn't very much like Danziger. In fact Danziger didn't seem very much like Danziger at all.

Morgan wondered about this whole impersonator thing. It was Danziger that seemed like the impersonator here.

The door banged open and before he could do anything, someone entered the room and the doors slammed shut again. Once his eyes adjusted to the flash of light, Morgan saw Devon standing before him.

"Devon!" Morgan said quickly, "You gotta get me out of here. Something fishy is going on. You gotta watch out for Danziger."

"I will be able to release you if you assure me of who you are," Devon said levelly. "You must tell me the password to the scan-log. You can tell me, of course."

Now Morgan knew without a doubt that something was wrong. He knew for a fact that Devon would be the last person to ask him this question. Okay, if they can test me, he thought, I can test them. "It's too long to remember. I got it written down. It's under the middle keyboard. It's about 20 digits long, alphanumeric. Starts with an X." 

"I will check this information," Devon said curtly and was out the door again before Morgan could do anything to impede her.

That was not Devon. He knew that now without a doubt. He stood in the room, breathing deeply, trying to calm down. "Oh, damn," he thought suddenly. "Oh, you stupid idiot. You sent them into your home!"

* * * *

"Well?" Danziger asked the small group. "I looked all through the Great House and no sign of him."

"I checked out the Cook House and the new hospital," Alonzo said, "And I didn't even find Denner's missing pie."

"I've been through a few of the storerooms and I sent Mazatl up to the Perch with Zero." Devon added, "He hasn't seen anything either. Ed and Agnes are going through the barns."

True, Uly, Magus and Walman had taken off on horseback to survey the area, looking for the man who may or may not be Morgan. The others had scattered throughout the colony. It was as if he had vanished without a trace. No one was in the compound when he left the CommDish, so no one could say which direction he went.

Suddenly a scream of rage broke the air, and everyone nearby ran toward the CommDish. He was back. 

"How the hell did he get back here without us seeing him?" Danziger said, when he first saw the man, in one corner of the room. Then he saw the rest of the picture. 

Morgan was holding one-year-old Sarah, trying to get to the door. Bess was swinging the wooden crutch at him, trying desperately to hit him without striking her daughter. Amelia was hiding in a corner behind her mother. "You let her go! Let her go! Damn you!" She spat out. "You have no right."

"I need the scan-log," Morgan replied with remarkable calmness. "The password was not where he said it would be. I needed something to convince him to give me the information." He held Sarah tighter and the girl let out a little yelp, and looked around curiously at the activity in the room.

Bess stopped swinging the crutch long enough to say, "HE? Who told you where the password was? Where is Morgan! If he is hurt in any way..."

Morgan looked from Bess to the others, coldly and calculatedly. "I have no desire to harm him. He has been well taken care. I have seen to that. I only want the scan-log. Things have changed. I can see I will not be able to leave again without difficulty. I have been assured that no one knows the password except for ..." he paused and then smiled his shallow smile, " ... myself." He glanced around at them, and continued his tight grip on the child, who had no fear of him, but was uneasy about his behavior. He seemed to have lost his blankness now, and replaced it with a smug anger. "I will have to go have a little talk with myself now, and bring the child with me."

"You are going nowhere!" Bess growled, "Give me back my daughter!" 

"Why are you doing this?" Alonzo asked incredulously, "If you had only asked, we could have given you everything you wanted. What's so important about the stupid scan-log?"

"I have been trapped on this planet for three years. My ship crashed in the mountains, the damage was extensive, but not overwhelming. I rebuilt the ship myself, but the data in the navigational computer was lost. I need a star chart to find my way home, so I searched the planet for a means of obtaining such a chart. I was aware of a scattering of humans on this planet, and sought you out. The Grendlers think the stars are only pretty lights in the sky. Their intelligence is negligible. Those specimens that have been about your colony are typical of the race. I am, of course, capable of understanding all languages. It pains me to admit that even their coarse discourse could have any significance. And there are also Terrians here," he said darkly. "They tried to keep me from finding you, but I am too clever for them. They felt I should be stopped."

"They're pretty perceptive about things," Alonzo cut in.

"I suppose they feel that my returning home would not be in their best interest. They are a little too fond of this planet. They have no idea of the value of the resources here. My people are renown for our ability to harvest resources from a planet. We are very efficient and thorough. The Terrians seemed determined to undermine my attempts to return to my home. I find they are best dealt with by disturbing the DreamPlane. A rather simple task for someone as advanced as me. But they were coming close to finding a way to end the disturbance. I had to find a way to leave quickly." The girl wiggled in his arms but he held her tightly.

"The planet is more than just rocks and soil to them." Alonzo said, "It is alive."

"What does that matter to me?" The being responded coldly, before continuing. "Then, in spite of the Terrians, I found your communications dish. I knew that my problems had been solved. Certainly there would be some sort of star chart at this location. All I would need to do is infiltrate your group, find someone who could provide me with a copy of the charts and leave. I waited until one of you separated from the rest. It didn't take long. You can see, I meant you no harm."

"But you have harmed us. Look what you're doing to that girl!" Danziger said quickly.

"It is unharmed. The one I have replaced is unharmed. You have discovered my deception," he paused and gazed at them languidly. "It was the limp that gave me away, wasn't it?" He did not wait for an answer, "My people can become an identical copy of any living thing. We can even duplicate their clothing down to dirt in the seams. Amnesia is always a useful gimmick when one needs to be accepted among another species. People are so willing to offer information when think you can't remember anything. I felt the damage done to this being was an inconvenience and so I remedied the situation. I see that I should have been more careful." He nodded slightly. "All I require is a copy of the scan-log and I will leave you. Let me go and I will find out the missing password and everyone will be happy."

Bess was furious, "You will not take my child! You have no right!"

Alonzo whispered to her, "If we let him go, we can follow him to where he's hiding Morgan."

"You know how fast he disappeared last time. Do you think I will let him go with my daughter?!"

Devon stepped forward. "If I were to give you the password, if the scan-log was unlocked, would you release the girl? Would you release Morgan?"

"Certainly," the false Morgan said, and then paused again, registering what she had said. "You have the password?"

"I will unlock the scan-log and you will release the girl and Morgan. That is the deal."

Morgan nodded slightly. "That is acceptable."

Devon sat down at the keyboard and brought up the locked screen. Without having to stop and think, she typed in the word and the computer released the log. She turned back to Morgan, who handed the child to Bess, who snatched Sarah away. Devon tapped at the keyboard.

"And now you will release Morgan," Devon said evenly.

"I will require the copy first," Morgan replied.

"I have set up the computer to dump its entire memory. I will erase everything on this machine if you don't release him first."

"That is unacceptable. His voice raised suddenly from it's dull monotone. 

"That's the deal." 

Morgan stepped back from the group. "This is unfair," he replied. He glared at them now "UNFAIR! You will do as I say. I am superior to you all!"

"Hardly," Devon said, her voice low and hard, "I can destroy everything you seem to care about with one movement of my finger. You would have to work a lot harder to do the same to us."

"Animals!" Morgan's face was red with rage, "You have no idea of what I can do!" He changed before their eyes, from the tall, thin liaison that they all knew. Everything human about him melted away into a thick, grotesque creature, purple skinned, tentacled, with huge eyes and a gaping mouth. "UNFAIR!" It hissed and lashed out at Julia, the closest one to him. Julia was able to sidestep him and leap out of the room. It then turned on Devon, "The scan-log! I demand it now!" 

Devon struck the keyboard and the creature gurgled with rage when the screen went blank, "UNFAIR!" It raged toward her, but Danziger and Alonzo had attacked it by now, dragging it backward through the open door and into outside.

It twisted out of their reach and lashed out at Danziger, knocking him backwards. "I will kill you all!" It barked. Julia ran to Danziger, but the creature stopped her before she could reach him. It grasped Julia and drew her to him.

Suddenly, the Grendlers were there, launching themselves on the creature. It tried to break away, but they held it tightly. It released Julia in the commotion and she crawled away toward Alonzo, who quickly cradled her against himself. 

"Stupid creatures! Don't you know I am more powerful than all of you?" the thing said, struggling to free itself from the grip of the Grendlers. Ed and Agnes were a formidable team, and the creature could not immediately break away, although its tentacles wrapped themselves around the legs and arms of the Grendlers.

Finally, it struggled to its feet, it threw off Agnes and then Ed. The Grendlers rolled like balls away from the scene. It suddenly saw the little child Sarah again and made a lunge for her. The creature never made it.

There was a blast and the creature shrieked in pain as it collapsed to the ground. Bess stood defiantly with the humming MagPro. "Never touch my daughter again," she spat out.

It was obvious the creature was dead. The MagPro was set as maximum, and at close range. 

Julia, with the help of Alonzo, rose to her feet. Devon ran to Danziger. He was scraped and bruised, but otherwise fine. Ed and Agnes, seemed relatively unharmed by their tumble. Bess glared at what was left at the creature, until the cries from her youngest daughter brought her out of it. She dropped the weapon and picked up Sarah. Amelia, who had remained in the house peeked out fearfully, Bess pulled the girl to her. "It knew where Morgan is," Bess said tearfully. "It was the only one who knew where he is. What have I done?"

"We'll find him," Devon assured her, and then signaled to Danziger and the others, "Get the horses ready. It said that he was well cared for. He must be close."

* * * *

They continued the search from where they had left off earlier, adjusting the search now from a hiding Morgan to a hidden Morgan. The groups had searched for three hours now, leaving Denner behind to care for the children. Alonzo and Baines searched around the colony for the second time that day.

"This is crazy," Baines muttered. "How do they expect us to find him? Who knows where that thing hid Morgan? He could be anywhere."

"Well, we'll keep looking until we find him," Alonzo said resolutely.

Baines pushed open the door of the Cook House and leapt back almost immediately, "Holy crap!" Baines he shouted as the huge spider pushed its way past them and into the compound. "That thing is still here! I thought Bess killed it."

Alonzo, at first as startled as Baines, jumped out of the thing's path, but he stared after it in surprise. "Baines, did you see that? Didja see what's on top of it?"

Baines frowned and tried to focus on something other than the whirling legs and five bobbing eyestalks. "Hey!" he said, "He's got a plate of muffins!"

"Get Devon on GEAR, I'm following it! It's not the same thing that was impersonating Morgan," Alonzo yelled as he ran the short distance to the Martin home, where the ATV was parked. 

Baines fixed his GEAR. "Devon," he said as Alonzo sped after the arachnid, "I think we got a lead."

Alonzo pressed the vehicle to keep up with the skittering creature as it ran into the hills. He hoped it would stay to the bottom of the hills. If it started up the slope, he would lose it. He followed the creature until they rounded a hillside and emerged at the still pond. He skidded the machine to a halt when the spider suddenly stopped. It turned toward him for only a moment, and then disappeared into the hillside. 

Alonzo leapt out of the vehicle and stepped to where the spider had disappeared. There was nothing but a solid wall of rock. He looked up to see Devon and Danziger nearing. The two jumped down from their mounts and met him at the wall. Yale was close behind them.

"Baines said you saw that spider with a plate of muffins?" Danziger asked, skeptically. 

"Yeah," Alonzo responded, "I think it was bringing some food to Morgan. It just ran into this wall and disappeared. It's like it ran right through."

"With the muffins?" Devon asked. "That means that anything solid should be able to make it through." She tapped along the wall uncertainly. It felt solid as any rock. She turned when she heard the huffing of the Grendlers arriving on the scene, followed closely by Bess, on her horse, Fan.

"You found him?" She asked expectantly, looking around for any sort of sign of Morgan.

"We believe he is near," Yale said and squatted in front of the stone wall. He ran his Grip slowly over the surface. "It's an illusion. We only need to find the right frequency and we should be able to get past it." He pulled off his GEAR and held it against the wall, adjusting it slightly and constantly. Suddenly the wall shuddered and disappeared. They found themselves staring into a well-lit corridor.

Alonzo and Danziger went in first, followed close behind by Bess, Devon and Yale. Ed and Agnes took up the rear. The corridor ran a dozen meters through the rock to a small room, with a scattering of electronics on a table. Danziger picked up a device and looked at it with interest. "Strange stuff," he said. "I couldn't tell you what this is for."

"I can." Alonzo took the palm-sized electronic device from him and smashed it open. "The Terrians were trying to tell me about this. It's what was jamming the DreamPlane." He set it down when he spotted the spider again, flitting along the wall, trying to stay hidden. It wedged itself into a crack in the wall and tried to become as small as possible. Evidently, it could not change it shape like the creature that had been impersonating Morgan.

There was a door at one end of the room, with a covered slot at the bottom. Danziger stepped to the door and tried to open it. There was no handle and no visible way of opening it. He pushed and tried to pull it, but the door would not give. "Morgan?" he said, rapping on the door. "Morgan you in there?" He knocked harder.

* * * *

The room echoed with sound. Something was pounding on the door. Morgan covered his head and wished it would end. The pounding stopped for a moment and he thought he could hear voices, distant and eerie. The noise started again, this time louder, as if someone was throwing something against the door. "Oh please, let it end," he muttered miserably. Only seconds before, a plate of muffins had appeared through the slot, and now it sounded like someone was trying to batter down the door with elephants.

What was outside this room? Something that could impersonate Devon and Danziger and who knew what else. Something that had gone to the colony, to his house. How could he be so stupid. All because of that stupid password. He should have given it to the thing. What harm would it have done anyway?

The noise increased and he rammed his fists against his ears. "Think happy thoughts... happy thoughts," he said to himself. He thought of the one thing that always made him happy. He thought of Bess. He could almost see her standing in front of him when the door suddenly slammed open and two huge shapes flew into the room. He cried out and tried to jump back from the lumpy creatures that headed toward him.

"Morgan!" Something else came at him. There was no room to run.

The shape had reached him and grabbed him by both arms. His eyes had adjusted to the change in light and he realized that it was Bess who touched him.

"Oh no, no," he shook his head unhappily, "No, they can't do this to me. Not Bess. You just can't go and be Bess."

"Is it you, Morgan?" Bess clasped his head in her hands and tried to look into his eyes.

"You can't look like Bess. You just can't do that," he said miserably, finally meeting her glance. " Bess...?"

She kissed him, as she had tried to do the day before. This time he kissed her back. 

When they finally released each other, Danziger spoke, "I take it you know who is who now?"

Morgan looked around, and noticed that there were two Grendlers and four other people in the room.

* * * *

Morgan fiddled with the controls of the ATV while everyone prepared for the trip back to Roanoke Colony. Devon leaned over the vehicle and said "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Oh yeah, fine. For someone who has been incarcerated by a shape shifting alien for the past few days in a tiny room, half starved and going out of my mind, I am just super." Then he lowered his voice, "I didn't give it the password."

"I know," Devon replied. "Thank you." She looked around to see what the others were doing. They were busily loading the horses with the electronics taken from the cave.

"Not that it mattered. I don't think the info there would make any difference to it."

"It was the right thing to do. We couldn't let it have that information." Devon spoke softly. "If it had accessed the log, it would have returned to this planet to destroy it. We had to stop it." Morgan nodded seriously, and she continued, "I had to erase your past three months of work."

"What? Why'd you go and do a thing like that? Do you know how hard I work for that stuff?"

"Yes, I do know. That's why I did it. I had to dump the recent entries to make it look good."

Suddenly, someone shouted. The long-legged, hairy black spider strutted out of the opening in the wall, carefully balancing a plate of battered muffins on its head. It made a beeline toward Morgan and his ATV, stopping just within arm's reach. Nobody moved.

"Devon..." Morgan said under his breath. "Do you see it too?"

"Yes," Devon replied, stepping away from the vehicle.

"Oh," Morgan responded, not knowing if that was a good thing or a bad thing. When the spider waved its eyestalks at him invitingly. "It's not gonna bite me is it?"

"It looks like it wants you to take a muffin," Alonzo said, not even daring to move.

"Yeah, right." Morgan started the engine and took off toward the colony at top speed. The spider only waited a moment, and then using it's eyestalks to hold down the plate, it took off after him.

"Now, that is one of the strangest things I have ever seen." Danziger said as Bess, astride Fan, followed after. "I think Morgan has found himself a new friend." 

Alonzo shrugged and started off on foot toward home, with Yale keeping him company on horseback. Devon took John by the arm and turned him toward the pond. The surface was as still as a plate of glass, and the Last-Step Mountains reflected so perfectly. 

"It has a ship somewhere. The ship is probably flyable, once the computer is repaired," Danziger said thoughtfully. "It could come in handy."

Devon just held onto his arm, and leaned against his shoulder. "It's nice here," she said after a moment. "I never realized how still this place was. Look at the pond. So quiet. It almost looks like there's a second set of mountains in the water, just like the first."

"Yeah, well, it's only a reflection. Nothing like the real thing. You could drown if you tried to cross those mountains," Danziger said, as Devon leaned her head against him. "Tell me again that you will marry me."

"... once the colony ship arrives," Devon said, completing the promise.

"I can wait," he replied.

****

THE END 

* * *

__

There ya go, another one done. I hope you aren't afraid of spiders.

[Drop me a note, let me know what you think!][1]

Even if you just want to tell me it stinks. Or maybe you want to tell me something good? Go ahead, do it! 

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	9. The Moons and their Orbits

__

Here we go again with another story based on that wonderful program "Earth2". There is no infringement intended on any characters or copyrights. This is purely for fun. In this story, once again, you'll see a little of everyone. I tried to 'up' the Danz and Devon scenes for the fans who have complained about their near absence from most of my stories. So, either Danz or Devon are in every scene. 

This story takes place as part of the saga I have been writing. This should tie together some of the loose ends that have been cropping up in my stories. 

* * *

****

The Moons and their Orbits 

The moons hung in the sky like fantastic ornaments, full and bright. The two celestial spheres reflected onto the white-sand beach, creating a mystical world of pearly light and shadow. The Lesser Moon was high in the sky, almost over head, while the Greater Moon balanced on Toplofty Peak, the highest of the Last-Step Mountains. 

It was high summer, the hottest they had known since they established Roanoke Colony. The sand was almost too hot to walk on during the day; the air was humid and heavy. A heat wave had set in, slowing their work, but not halting it. The only comfortable part of the day was now, in the cool of the night. 

They came to the beach with hand-woven blankets and spread them on the cooling sand. They brought baskets of food and bottles of wine, and relaxed by moonlight to the gentle sound of the waves lapping the shore. They came in twos and threes, as families and friends, to spend the night at the shore. 

Three small children ran and laughed along the sea's gentle edge. Another child crawled on a blanket, while an infant was held tightly in arms. The older children, so close to being adults themselves, sat with their elders. There was laughing and a song or two. Someone brought a homemade ball and an impromptu game of soccer filled the beach. 

During the day, there was always something to worry about, something that needed to be built or tended. But in the night, there was nothing that needed to be done, no task waiting, nothing but the comfort of the gentle cool breeze blowing off the ocean, nothing that needed to be considered beyond the moons and their orbits. 

* * * *

"Not again," Danziger muttered, sitting up in bed. The room was stuffy and hot; the sheets on the bed were moist with sweat. He had thrown a blanket over the window to keep out the sun, but it didn't help much with the heat. He glared around the room and picked up his shirt. He pulled it on with one quick movement and then walked across the room to the makeshift fan that stood motionless in the doorway. He kicked it once, toppling it. He jerked the cord out of the outlet and banged his way out of the building and into the compound. 

The sunlight blinded him for a moment. He pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on before continuing. The grass was crisp and brown; the heat rising from it created little waves in the air. He could feel the sun's rays beating down on him as he made his way to the tool shed. When he opened the door, a wall of heat hit him. He stepped back, letting the only slightly cooler outside air fill the hot little building, before he entered. He stayed for only a minute, picking up the necessary tools before heading toward the Great House. 

When he entered the Great House he realized how quiet everything had been. All of the activity that was usually reserved for the compound had found its way into the noisy main hall. 

Amelia, Sarah and Hugh screamed and ran toward him when he entered. He instinctively held the fan out of the way, and flinched slightly when he saw the reason for their activity. A huge black spider was chasing them. The creature cornered them momentarily, and then the children turned the game around and started chasing it. Even though the spider had been around for over a year, Danziger couldn't help but feel a little 'creeped-out' by the arachnid. 

Yale and True sat by the unlit fireplace, casually going over a lesson. Morgan and Bess were discussing something while Bess rocked their newborn child, Jennifer, in the wooden bassinet. Denner was trying to find a way to hold little Robbie so that she wouldn't actually have to touch his hot skin. Alonzo lazily watched the other children run about the room. Cameron and Baines were apparently trying to sleep on a pair of benches in the room. All around them droned mechanical fans. 

"Hey!" Alonzo said, "You brought another fan! You are a lifesaver." 

John shook his head. "Sorry, this one conked out. I came here to fix it. I thought it would be quiet in here." 

Alonzo shrugged. "Yeah, well, you can't have everything. Hugh! Don't step on Stanley." 

"His name is Skippy!" Amelia said, pointing at the spider. 

"It's Stanley," Morgan interjected, and shook his head. "She wanted to name the baby Skippy, now she's trying to name everything Skippy." 

Danziger couldn't help but think that the spider would still be just as disgusting, no matter what it was called. "Aren't you all supposed to be asleep right now?" 

"Trying to!" Baines said suddenly, obviously not asleep. He glared at Amelia and the rest before he threw an arm over his eyes. 

The children came to a halt and said as one, "Sorry, Uncle Baines!" 

"Who can sleep in this heat?" Alonzo said. "We figured if we combined our resources, we might actually be able to cool off this room. Of course, it doesn't help to have these hooligans running around, but who can stop them?" 

Danziger nodded and set the fan down with his tools. He carefully worked to fix the machine. It was made from the pieces of half a dozen different devices, and functioned only with a definite amount of luck. He worked for several minutes, reconnecting the temperamental wiring of the machine. As he tinkered with the machine, he wished that Devon were here too. He always felt best when she was nearby. 

Hugh suddenly ran to his father, and Alonzo scooped the boy up in his arms and flung him into the sky. "How's Daddy's big boy?" he said as the boy laughed. 

Amelia and Sarah went to Jenny's crib and petted her softly. Each one of them was a small replica of Bess, with their brown curly hair and beautiful little faces. Amelia looked up from the baby and said, "Skippy's smiling at me!" 

Robbie was saying "Baa! Baa!" over and over again. Denner was trying to change it to "Maa!" but Robbie seemed content with the syllable he had chosen. Denner put him on the ground, but he instantly put up a fuss, so she had to pick him up again. 

Danziger looked over at True. She looked so much like her mother now. He remembered when she was small, as tiny as little Jennifer. As he watched the children playing in the room, he thought again about the promise he had made to Devon. He would wait until the colony ship arrived before he would marry her. He had been waiting for five years now. 

The Colony Ship had been lost for so long, it seemed strange to go on believing it would come. Danziger watched Morgan as Bess handed Jenny to him. Morgan tucked the baby up against himself and rocked her gently. The other children stood on either side of their father, marveling at the novelty of a little sister. Morgan turned the baby so that the elder girls could get a better view. Danziger had to laugh, he never expected Morgan to be such a good father to his girls. 

Morgan still looked for the ship every day. Much of the work he had done for over four years had to be rebuilt, because, as everyone knew, the scan-log memory had been dumped last year. Of course, that meant that Morgan had to start from scratch. Danziger understood that searching for one ship in the vastness of space was like looking for a needle in a haystack, like looking for one grain of sand on the beach. He didn't want to wait another four years. 

And what guarantee did they have that the ship was still out there? Devon constantly assured everyone that they ship would be found, and yet there was still no proof that it still existed. 

Danziger fastened the back plate onto the fan and looked for a power source to plug it into. He found one and started up the fan. The machine started crankily, and then ran surely, adding a new breeze to the room. He sat back in the moving air and sighed. 

* * * *

It was too hot to think. Devon leaned against the computer as she ran a soft cloth over her forehead. Too hot to think, too hot to sleep. She shut down the computer and decided to find something else to do. Yale had said that the weather should be changing any day now. The sooner the better, she thought. She pulled her sunglasses on and headed out the door, into the bright sunlight. She first looked around to see if she could see any sign of Danziger. She saw no one. So, she headed quickly across the compound to the new hospital, which was now over two years old. 

Julia was working at her office, a noisy fan stirring up the air in the room. She looked up when Devon entered. "So how's the sunburn?" the doctor asked. 

Devon touched her shoulders gingerly. "I think it's getting better. I could use some more of that lotion." 

Julia nodded and pulled a canister down from the shelf. "Stay out of the sun," she advised with a grin. She scooped a cup of the lotion out of the large container and dumped it into a smaller one. "Just what the doctor ordered. Part jelly-fish-jelly, part cactus milk, and a few other things you probably wouldn't want to know about." 

"Thanks," Devon said and sat down. "I just wish I could get some sleep. I am thinking I might not join the rest of you at the beach tonight." 

"Oh Devon, it is the only decent part of the day right now. What fun would it be to sleep through it?" Julia said. "The weather is about to turn in any case." Julia opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a container of preserved fruit. "Hungry?" 

Devon nodded and took some of the offered fruit, and the two women ate quietly for a moment. Julia said, "I think the boys are almost finished with the final bunk-house. Once they can get out and do some real work, they should be done with it. We will be all set for the Colony ship now. If it ever comes, that is." 

"It won't be long," Devon said off-handedly. 

"Yeah," Julia sighed, "That's what we keep telling ourselves. I know I've said it before, but do you really think this has all been worth while? I mean, we have spent so much time and effort creating housing for people who might not even come?" 

"We must be ready." Devon replied, "There are over 250 families aboard that ship. What would they do if there weren't a place for them? What would happen to them if they stepped foot on this planet and there was not enough room to house them? We were supposed to have CargoPods that were filled with building materials. It should have been easy." 

Julia nodded, "You don't have to tell me. If everything went as planned, we would have landed near here and welcomed the Colonists two years later. We would have had everything we needed at our fingertips to build a city." Julia shook her head. "Not a single thing went the right way." Julia stretched in her seat, "You've said again and again that they are still coming. What gives you that confidence?" 

"They will come. It is the reason we are here and we can't give up on them." Devon looked at her for a moment, as if she wanted to say something, but instead reached for another piece of fruit. "We just have to be ready, that's all." 

"You are always so confident." Julia had to laugh, "I mean, if you can keep Morgan in the CommDish for five years, looking for that ship, you must have abilities far beyond my own." 

"He's easy enough to handle if you have the right carrot to dangle in front of him" Devon responded. 

"And, I never thought we'd get all the buildings completed. It's a miracle really." 

"A miracle..." Devon said, trailing off. "A miracle is what we need." 

"Hmmm?" Julia said, "What did you say?" 

Devon smiled at her, "A miracle. We could always do with a little bit of that." 

Julia couldn't help but think that there was something else going on, but Devon wasn't offering any more information, and Julia had learned through their long association, that if Devon didn't want to talk, there was nothing to be done about it. 

***

"It's too damn stinking hot," Morgan complained as he headed across the compound to his house. He carried a fan in one hand and stiffly walked with his cane in the other. 

Danziger walked beside him. "I couldn't agree with you more." 

Morgan smirked, "What, you actually agree with me about something?" 

"Every once a millennium it happens," Danziger said with a straight face. Bess had sent him to help Morgan get the fan installed again once they reached the CommDish. The dry grass was loud beneath their feet as they walked, and Stan the spider followed them noisily. 

When they reached the metal structure, Danziger could feel the heat radiating from it. "You can't honestly tell me that you are going in there," he said. 

Morgan frowned and handed the fan to John. "Well, I gotta do a check four times a day. Not much I can do about getting out of that. Just set up the fan so I can get this done." 

The main door to the electronics bay had been left open, but the air inside was still stifling. John stepped in quickly, knelt down to the low outlet and hooked up the fan. When he re-emerged, the spider was sitting on Morgan's shoulder. Danziger jumped at the sight. "Geez, that thing gives me the creeps. I gotta say, Martin, it surprises the hell out of me that you let that thing around your kids all the time." 

"It's just Stan," Morgan said. "He wouldn't hurt anybody. He's our watch dog, or watch-spider." He started to limp to the doorway. 

"I'd suggest you wait a bit before you go in, otherwise you'll cook your brains a bit more than they are already." 

"Ha ha, a laugh riot." Morgan stopped his progress and leaned against the side of the building for a moment, but straightened almost immediately when he realized how hot the metal was. "Ow!" He leaned against his cane and glared at the building. "That's just marvelous." 

The relationship between the two men had changed significantly over the past years. Danziger was not the type of man to hate anyone, but his feelings toward the liaison were awfully close to that at first. Now, a strange relationship had developed. Although they never sought out each other's company, and their conversations were often short if not a little insulting, but they had become used to each other. 

"So, how's Bess doing?" Danziger said, trying to make small talk. 

"Oh, she's incredible. I can't believe that one week ago, I mean, she's giving birth and today she's up and around like that's the most natural thing on earth!" 

"Three kids, Morgan. I can't believe YOU have three kids." 

"I think Bess wants to populate the planet." He said, "It's pretty good though, huh? Three." 

"Yeah, pretty damn amazing if you ask me," Danziger returned. 

"Still, it's pretty tough though, you know. Seeing all that pain she has to go through when the baby is born." Morgan shook his head, "It's awful to see someone you love so much in that kinda pain. I keep telling her that we shouldn't have anymore kids. I think I might have finally convinced her of that, but you never know. I never want to see Bess suffer anything." Morgan rested his hand against the structure, and pulled it away quickly again. 

"So, you honestly think you are going to do any good by going into that oven today?" Danziger asked. 

Morgan shrugged, "Well, I should be finding it pretty soon now." 

"What makes today any different than the thousand or so other days that have already gone by?" 

Morgan considered this for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know. I guess it's just gotta be close to the right time." He stepped suddenly into the still hot room. "I'll see you later. I got some work to do." The spider on his shoulder waved its eye-stalks at Danziger as the liaison disappeared into the room. 

Danziger shook his head, then turned and headed back to the Great House. He would pick up his own fan and head home. Maybe he would be able to get some sleep now. 

* * * *

Devon sat in the Cook House. She had just pumped a liter or so of water, and was enjoying its coolness. The door suddenly opened and Uly walked in, bleary eyed and yawning. "Hi, Mom," he said groggily. He made his way to the pump, and filled a container, which he splashed over his face immediately. 

"Uly, don't make a mess," Devon said quietly. 

Uly just grinned at her. "Come on, Mom, it's almost dried up already." He pumped another container of water and carried it with him. "So, you couldn't sleep either, huh?" 

"A few cat naps, but that's about it," Devon responded. "And how about you?" 

The boy shrugged, "Oh, you know me, Mom. I could sleep through anything." He sat down beside her and the two of them drank the cool water. Uly stood suddenly. "There's a bunch of people up at the Great House. I hear they got all the fans going in there. Let's see if it's any cooler." 

Mother and son walked between the two buildings. The Cook House and the Great House were only about two meters apart, separated by a thin strip of hard packed earth. It was noticeably cooler in the main hall, but the air was still uncomfortably warm. The first thing they saw was a pile of sleeping children. The four were a twist of arms and legs, oblivious of the heat. Other Advancers were asleep on the benches and tables in the room. Only True, Bess and Jenny were awake. 

"Oh, just about everyone's asleep," Uly said unhappily. "That's not any fun." 

"Hi, Uly," True said, and then turned to Devon. "You just missed my dad." 

Devon frowned, and considered going back out to find him, but couldn't think of a good excuse for leaving the coolish hall. 

Devon sat down beside Bess. "So, how is the newest member of the colony." 

"Fit as a fiddle and ready for love." Bess said, "She's doing fine. I don't think she minds the heat at all." 

Devon just shook her head. She still found it hard to believe that Bess had given birth to three children since they arrived at Roanoke Colony five years ago. If they were back on the stations, she could have been put on trial for recklessly increasing the population. She would have been looked down upon by everyone and forced from the public eye. Yet here she was, with daughter number three, just as happy and content as ever. 

Giving birth with only natural remedies at hand. Devon wondered how she could do the same. So much time had passed already. There would still be time though, if all went well. There had been no sign of the Syndrome among the new children, as if the planet had cleansed them of any trace of that horrible disease. There would still be time. John would wait. It was the only way. 

* * * *

Danziger abandoned his plan to return to his home when he saw Mazatl, Walman and Magus huddled under the windmill tower. "So what's up?" he asked as he approached. 

"It's not working," Walman said, irritated. "How are we supposed to get water into the fields and to the animals if the pump isn't working?" 

Danziger sighed and looked up at the still blades of the mill. "Isn't the back-up generator working?" he asked. 

Magus stood beside the steaming generator. "The thing is just too hot. It gave up." 

Danziger set down the fan he was carrying. He pulled a container off the side of the hand pump and said, "I'll cool it down. Can you guys do something constructive?" He motioned to the hand pump on the platform. The three looked at each other, waiting for someone else to move. Finally, Mazatl stepped forward and took the pump handle. It was hot work. He worked the pump for several minutes before anything came out, but soon the pump was gushing. Danziger filled the container and threw the water on the generator. It hissed as the water hit the hot metal. He filled the container several times, watering down the overworked generator. It was ironic that a sun-powered generator could overheat, but it wasn't designed to work in such a stressed atmosphere. After he had doused the generator, he looked up at Mazatl, who was sweating now from the effort. Danziger threw the last container of water at Mazatl. 

Mazatl, now dripping wet, stopped pumping and said, "Thanks, I needed that." 

Danziger knelt beside the cool generator and dried off the connections with his shirt, and then fired it up. Soon water was flowing out of the well and into the pipes. "Problem solved," Danziger said. 

Walman, Magus and Mazatl headed out to complete their chores. They didn't have much to do today, but they couldn't deny the animals or the crops their water. 

Danziger looked around. He thought he had heard Devon earlier, but he did not see her now. That was too bad. John picked up his fan and headed back toward his home. Maybe he would be able to get some sleep now. 

* * * *

Devon left the Great House with True. She saw a group of people under the windmill tower. Mazatl was operating the pump. Walman and Magus were blocking her view, so she could not see any more. She shouted to them to find out what was going on, but nobody turned. She considered walking over, but True had said that she had something important to talk to her about. 

"Why do you think the Colony ship is still coming?" True asked. "I mean, you keep telling everyone that you think it's coming and everyone just kinda believes you. I think they just keep up with the building out of habit." True drew a strand of hair away from her face as she spoke. "Does anyone ever stop and ask why we're still at it?" 

"All the time, True," Devon responded. 

"And so what do you say?" True asked. "Why are we still working?" 

"This is the important discussion that you were talking about?" 

"Yeah," she answered, "I know you think I'm just a kid, but I see things. I know that we'd have a lot more fun if we weren't so busy keeping up with this schedule. Why'd we have to have it all done by this summer? What's so important about that?" 

"We just had to finish it. We had to be ready for them," Devon answered. "I'm just glad that we are almost done." 

True nodded and sighed. 

* * * *

Danziger tried to sleep again. The fan was running, stirring the air of the room, making the heat just barely bearable. He could feel himself drifting in and out of sleep. "What a tiresome day," he thought. He heard True enter their house and go to her room. He dozed, listening to the sound of the droning fan. Finally he fell asleep and dreamed. 

He dreamed of the cool night and the beautiful fair moons. In his dream, the moons became ships, sailing in a sea of night. He rode on one moon, through the maze of stars, looking for the long lost Colony Ship. He picked up stars as if they were apples, and looked under them. When he set them back down, they made a splashing sound, as if he were throwing them into water. He looked up and saw Devon on the other moon, turned away from him, sailing away. He tried to follow her, but there was nothing he could do to catch her. He was at the mercy of the moons and their orbits. 

* * * *

Devon slept. A strident rapping finally woke her. She thought for a moment that Uly would answer the door, but then she remembered that the boy had stayed in the Great House and was probably still sleeping there. She frowned and sat up in bed. After it had taken her so long to fall asleep, it was an annoyance to be awakened. 

She pulled on her clothes and walked to the door. When she flung it open, she realized that the sun was setting, and the sky was darkening. Morgan stood in the doorway, about ready to rap again on the door with his cane. "What is it, Morgan." she said, her voice belaying her irritation. 

"I got it," he replied. He seemed very agitated. 

"What sort of 'it' are you talking about." Devon ran her hand through her sleep-rustled hair. 

"The big 'it.' The 'it' I've been looking for the past four years." 

Devon's eyes widened, and she pulled him into the house. He stumbled clumsily as she shut the door behind him. "You found the ship?" she said urgently. 

Morgan nodded. "Yeah, just picked 'em up. They're on the edge of my range." 

"Are they transmitting a designation?" 

"Nothing. They are running silent." 

She nodded numbly. "Have you made any contact?" 

Morgan shook his head. "We boosted the range on the CommDish. We can see them but they can't see us yet." 

Devon paced back and forth, and looked back at Morgan. He seemed anxious and a little pale. "Is everything still as it should be? Nothing's out of place?" 

Morgan sighed, "I've kept it all just like you told me. I've done everything just like you said," he said nervously. "Nothing has changed. It's all set up." He leaned heavily on his cane, "Now what? What are we going to do? What am I supposed to do now? What now?" 

"Keep an eye on them." Outside, the sky was growing dark, but the moons were rising, filling the night with their pale cool light. 

* * * *

"Hey, Adair," Danziger said as Devon approached him. "I haven't seen you all day." He took her arm and together they headed toward the beach. "Where have you been hiding?" 

She smiled tightly, "I haven't been hiding, exactly," she replied, turning away slightly. 

He managed to turn her back toward him and studied her face carefully. "Something's wrong," he concluded. 

"Nothing that I didn't expect," she answered mysteriously. They walked over the dunes and onto the white sands. Nearly everyone was there already, enjoying the cool night air. She watched the joyful little children, running about in the darkness, tagging Zero and then running back up the beach. Alonzo took off after the children, and Julia yelled encouragement. Mazatl was spinning Robbie, and Denner was laughing. Magus and Walman had just lain out their blanket and were diving into their picnic basket. Cameron, Yale and Baines were trying to fish. Uly and True were sitting together on a piece of driftwood. 

Bess and Morgan were just arriving with little Jenny. Morgan limped slowly and carefully on the shifting sand, and Bess walked unhurriedly beside him. Morgan looked to Devon, but said nothing. 

"What's up?" Danziger asked, looking at Devon's pinched face. "Come on, you have to tell me what's going on." 

"This may be our last summer here for some time," she answered. "This is all coming to an end." 

"What?" Danziger said so sharply that all the activity on the beach stopped. 

Devon raised her voice loud enough so that all could here. "There is a ship coming." A thrilled gasp ran through the group; everyone looked to Morgan, who scowled unhappily. Devon continued, "But it is not the Colony Ship. It's a Council Ship." 

Everyone was suddenly talking. Walman, Julia and Baines surrounded Morgan demanding to know how he could tell it was a Council ship. Danziger stared at Devon. "What is this all about?" he asked. 

"I had a dream," she replied. "About a year after we arrived here I had a dream." Devon looked around at the faces of her people, and her gaze landed on her son. "Uly came to me on the DreamPlane." 

"But Mom," Uly protested, "I don't remember doing that." 

"I know. You haven't done it yet. And with any luck, you never will." She replied. She met the confused looks of those around her, and then continued. "Uly came to me on the DreamPlane. He was speaking from the future, about ten years from now. Fifteen years from when I first had this dream. He told me that I had to change the future 

"You can't change the future." Walman protested. "It doesn't work that way." 

"We already have changed it," she nodded slowly. "In the original timeline, we found the Colony ship a little more than one year after we arrived here. It was off course, but we were able to correct its path and bring it to G889. You remember how many buildings we had created in the first year. We barely had enough to house ourselves. In the original history, we brought the colonists to the surface. The Terrians agreed to cure the children. But things went wrong." 

She looked up at Danziger, at his puzzled expression. She wished that she didn't have to continue her story, but she steeled herself and spoke again, "There was not enough food, shelter or supplies for everyone. We tried to bring the colonists down in smaller groups, but the politics of the ship had to be considered. Nobody wanted to be the last ones on the ship. Everyone wanted their children brought to the planet immediately. But, not everyone wanted the Terrians to cure their children. Many were afraid. Some refused to even let their children be touched by the Terrians." 

Everyone was silently listening to her story. Walman was glancing about at everyone, trying to see what the others were doing. Yale looked dumfounded and surprised. Morgan stared placidly at the ground. Devon said, "There was dissension. The Colonists broke into groups and scattered across the planet. One group moved to Mary's Garden, our old Winter Camp, and tried to find a chemical cure for the Syndrome, using local ingredients. They were successful to some extent, but many of the Syndrome children died." 

She paused, and looked up at the largest of the moons, it was so bright and white. She could almost distinguish a face in its collection of craters. The face seemed strangely unemotional and detached. "Then the Council Ship arrived, nearly six years after we first arrived at Roanoke Colony. And when they arrived, they became the Law. Anyone who disagreed with them was punished. The Terrian-cured children were rounded up, and incarcerated. Only the chemically-cured children were allowed any status in the community. Julia was imprisoned. Alonzo worked as hard as he could to try and free her, but she would die there within a few years." 

The people on the beach shifted uneasily and Julia looked to Alonzo. Devon began the next part of the story, "There was a rebellion. Many people died. Bess was killed in a demonstration." Morgan encircled his wife in his arms as Devon continued to speak. "Morgan was arrested and executed shortly afterward. Yale, Walman and Magus were jailed for acts against the Council. Many died in the battles that followed. Mazatl and Alonzo were killed trying to defend this stretch of beach. Baines was killed in the highlands. The Council and their forces killed every Grendler and Terrian they could find. Uly went to live with the Terrians, to protect them and this planet. It was all out war." 

She met the stunned expressions of the Advancers. They were looking at each other in disbelief. Finally Walman spoke "How can you be sure all of this is true? I mean, maybe you just had a nightmare or something. You're telling me that I am going to die, or maybe I am already dead? This is just too incredible. I don't believe it. Do you have any proof that any of this is going to happen?" 

Devon nodded, "Morgan found the Colony ship exactly when Uly said he would." 

Everyone looked at Morgan, who continued to tightly hold his wife, who held their child in her arms. 

"And this wasn't the first time I have seen Uly in a dream," she looked around at them and continued, "It happened before, during our Winter Camp." 

"Now, wait a minute," Danziger cut in abruptly. "Are you telling me that he found the Colony ship four years ago?" he gestured at Morgan. "You trusted him to keep this secret. Him, of all people?" 

Devon nodded, "I told Morgan that when he found it, he should not say anything about it. That its location must remain a secret." All she needed to do was tell Morgan that Bess' life was at stake. He complied without question. 

"That's why he locked the scan-log!" Denner cried, "Now it makes sense." 

Devon nodded. "I decided that the first plan of action was to remove the colonists from the field of battle. We would save the lives of hundreds of people if we were able to deal with the Council on our own. If we were able to fix things, we could finally bring the Colony Ship here when all was right again. And we would be ready for them this time." 

Danziger shook his head sharply, "But why all the mystery? I mean, okay, you decided to hide the ship's location and you decided to get Morgan here to do the dirty work for you, but why didn't you tell anyone else? We could have been preparing for this all along." His voice was rising and his expression was hard. 

"We have been preparing," Devon answered. 

"But, why the mystery?" Danziger shouted, "Why didn't you tell anyone about this? Don't you trust us?" He paced a few steps away from her, and quickly returned, his face red and his hands clenched. "Who do you think you are to do this to us?" 

Devon raised her head and looked out over the assembled people. In the low light, everything was black and white. She slowly turned her head back to meet Danziger's eyes. She spoke slowly and calculatedly. "If I told you about this earlier, you may have been able to discover the location of the Colony Ship." 

"Yeah, and what about that?" Baines interjected. "What does it matter if we know where it is?" 

Again, Devon paused. She sucked in her breath slowly before she could continue, "Because, one of us would go to the Council with this information if they knew it." 

"Hold it!" Danziger barked, "First of all, you're crazy if you're saying that someone here would betray this kind of thing, but you're contradicting yourself. If Uly came to you from the future where the Colony ship wasn't hidden, then how would he know that someone would betray the hidden ship?" 

Devon looked tired and sick, "I have seen him on the DreamPlane twice now regarding this. First, from the future before the ship was brought to the planet, and then again from the revised future." 

"This is ridiculous. None of us would go to the Council." Danziger fumed, as the full implication of what she'd said sunk in. "You trust Morgan before any of the rest of us?" 

In the pale light of the moons, Devon sighed, "The council had killed him before any of the information was betrayed. I could trust that he wasn't part of it. Besides, he was the one in charge of the CommDish. It made sense. The fewer people who knew, the better." 

Danziger leaned toward her, "Then who is it?" he said, his voice lowered to a growl. 

Devon met his eyes and said, "It was you." 

The beach exploded with commotion. Everyone was talking. Morgan was heard saying, "You didn't tell me THAT part." 

Danziger's jaw dropped, "No," he finally said, "No, never. I would never betray anyone to the Council. Not for anything." 

Devon swallowed. "You would do it for your daughter," she said solemnly. 

Confused, Danziger turned to his daughter. "True..." he started, but Devon stopped him. 

"No, not True. Kate." Devon's face was still and tense, "Our child, Kate." Her eyes never left Danziger's face as she spoke. "They took her and you went to get her back." 

"Our child?" Danziger whispered, "We had a child?" 

"They gave you no choice," Devon said, "It was her life or the Colony Ship. You gave up the ship to spare your child. The ship was such a nebulous thing, and before you was your daughter. They threatened her life." 

Danziger's legs seemed to give way beneath him and he sat down heavily on the sand. "I don't understand." 

"That is why we have to wait to marry." Devon knelt down beside him, "That is why we wait." 

She tried to find his eyes, but he turned away from her and faced out to the sea. Devon sighed and turned to the others. "We will have to be very careful from now on." She continued, "This is just the beginning. Tomorrow we start a new plan." 

Above them the moons were full and bright, but they were already starting to wane. Tomorrow night they would be diminishing. Tomorrow, the wind would change, and the heat wave would break, and everything would be different from then on. The moons continued to orbit the planet, impartial observers of everything that happened. 

****

THE END - of The Moons and Their Orbits. 

TO BE CONTINUED in The Falling Star 

* * *

__

Okay, okay, I know what you're saying. How the hell can that be the end? I just upset the apple cart and caused all sorts of new problems. Well, guess what, I have started you into another annoying trilogy (okay, now it's a quadrilogy). This is just the first step of "The Moons, the Stars, the Rain and the Sun." 

[Drop me a note, let me know what you think!][1] Are you mad about what just happened? Are you confused? Are you hungry? I know I am.

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	10. The Falling Star

****

The Falling Star, Part 1

"The Moons, the Stars, The Rain and the Sun"

__

This story is based on the TV show "Earth2". A great show, now gone the way of many great shows. This story is not meant to infringe on anything that belongs to the show or any company that it might be affiliated. This is the second story in a trilogy that is part of a greater saga that I have been working on: "The Moons and Their Orbits," "The Falling Star", "The Rain - Like a Curtain Falls" and "The Sun - when it Rose". The other stories are available at this website. Check them out! And yes, I am calling it a trilogy because those last two are really one story cut in half. Carry on.

* * *

"Hang on, it's almost dawn." 

"Look, a falling star!" 

"Quick! Make a wish!" 

"I did." 

"What did you wish for?" 

"You already know." 

* * * *

The leader looked around with trepidation at the landscape. It was so uneven; she hadn't expected that. The DuneRail bucked and tossed as it crossed the land. The sun was behind them, just cresting the harsh looking mountains, and she was uncomfortable in the early morning chill. 

"Damn it, can't you keep this thing still?" the liaison growled from the backseat. He was balancing his computer on his knees. "How am I supposed to get a fix on it if you keep up that kinda crap?" 

The mechanic turned around and swatted the computer away from the liaison. It flew off his lap and hit the pilot beside him. "Would you shut the hell up," the mechanic said, returning to his task of driving over the awkward surface. "If you say one more freaking word, I swear I'll rip your head off." 

The pilot said nothing, but handed the computer back to the liaison, who glared back at the pilot. 

Their leader sighed, "Knock it off, both of you. I have had about all I can handle." 

The mechanic glanced over at her. "If your golden boy here hadn't gotten us so far off course to begin with, we'd be there by now." 

The pilot shook his head. "I was only doing what was asked." 

"Only doing what was asked," the liaison mimicked. "Well, if you weren't trying to run some sort of a race to get there first," said the liaison, leaning forward and poking at the mechanic, "we wouldn't have lost the others. Smart idea, let's get separated and try to sort it all out later. Takes a real genius to figure out a plan like that." 

"I swear," the mechanic barked, "you're a dead man." 

"I am the only thing that's going to get you to the goal," the liaison said condescendingly. "You can't touch me." 

The mechanic slammed on the brakes, turned around, and backhanded the liaison once, fiercely. The leader grabbed his arm, stilling any further action. The liaison, stunned, cowered in the seat, while the pilot tried to ignore the proceedings. 

"Do you see that? He wants to kill me!" the liaison moaned. He turned to the pilot, "Am I bleeding? Did he break my nose?" His face was scarlet where the hand made contact, but there was no sign of further injury. 

"You look fine," the pilot responded tiredly. 

"I am not going to put up with this anymore!" the leader cried, "You," she said, thumping the mechanic on the chest, "Get this machine running again. And you," she said, reaching over the back of her seat and grabbing the liaison by the collar, "Get back to work tracing that signal. You," she turned to the pilot who watched her complacently. "Just stay quiet. Everyone just shut up!" 

They started off again. The DuneRail continued to jerk sharply as they moved across the uneven landscape, nearly bouncing the occupants out of the back seat. The pilot held on stoically, but the liaison kept up a constant litany of offences. "Slow it down, you idiot! Are you trying to break my back! Watch it! You nearly knocked me out of the vehicle. You did that on purpose!" he prattled. 

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" the leader yelled. "How many times do I have to say it?" 

The mechanic smirked and the liaison sunk back into his seat. They continued in silence for several minutes, the mechanic grumbling, and the liaison shooting disgusted glances at everyone. The pilot watched the scenery intently, his face betraying fascination and perhaps sadness as well. 

"Am I allowed to mention a change in course?" the liaison said pettily. 

"Where the hell do I need to go?" the mechanic answered. 

The liaison gestured to a hill to their right. "It should be just over there." The mechanic gunned the engine and forced a last bit of speed out of the machine. They crested the hill and he slammed on the brakes. An incredible sight met them. 

The four of them stared out at a strange village. The most slipshod, hodge-podged collection of buildings that the leader had every seen. There were at least 25 buildings in sight, of different shapes and sizes. Several of the structures formed a circle with a strange tower in the center of it all. There were grassy open areas, fields of empty farmland, a blighted orchard, and another section fenced in by bits of refuse, where seven or eight horses lazily wandered. Everything seemed to be built from scraps and pieces of trash. 

And in the center of it all, stood a collection of people. They were clad in peculiar clothing, crudely made. Their skin seemed strangely dark and weathered. They were totally unkempt. The leader felt as if she had suddenly entered a VR program. 

One dark haired woman separated from the rest and walked toward them. The leader looked at the other three and said, "Stay here." 

The liaison tried to follow, but the mechanic restrained him. "Can't you hear," he growled. 

"But it is my duty to attend all functions..." he started. 

"Shut your hole before I shut it for you," the mechanical said menacingly. 

Their leader approached the woman slowly, cautiously. The strange woman moved purposefully toward her. They stopped a few feet from each other and the wild-looking, dark-haired woman extended a hand and said, "I am Devon Adair. Welcome to Roanoke Colony, New Pacifica." 

****

Mayland Vance, was a honey-haired woman of nearly forty, with almond eyes and a tight mouth. She was former First Administrator to the Council Chief, present First Council Governor of New Pacifica, and could not help but feel a strange repugnance to these people. The residents of New Pacifica were little more than savages. She waited uneasily with her pilot, liaison and mechanic for the rest of her group to arrive. 

The DuneRails with her administrative aides, Alison LaSalle and Theo Raddison, arrived within a few minutes, along with a Council Guard of eight men. That left another four guards at the shuttle. Mayland was glad to see them. This completed her Initial Contact Team. Her Lieutenant Governor had stayed on board their ship, of course, along with her personal physician, the other administrators, and the rest of the guard. Only the doctor, the Lieutenant Governor and a handful of others were currently awake, the rest were still in ColdSleep and would come to the surface later, once the initial contact process was completed. 

Devon Adair had surprised her. Mayland remembered seeing her in the stations, a haughty woman who seemed to float above all of them on her cloud of privilege and wealth. She looked like a dirty Earther now. It was enough to make a loyal Council Member like herself smile. 

Adair gave them a quick overview of their seven years on the planet. It was soon evident why the Eden Advance group had done so poorly. Their ship, the Roanoke, had exploded when it reached the planet, and they had been lucky to escape with their lives. They had traveled across half the continent, loosing several of their members to alien attack and illness. When they arrived here, they discovered that the CargoPods were destroyed. They had somehow managed to build a rudimentary town to house the coming colonists, but the Colony Ship had met the same fate as their own craft and exploded when it reached G889. The debris left from this latest accident was still in orbit around the planet. 

Of course, only the last part of this story surprised her. Mayland was well aware of the efforts made to stop the Roanoke from reaching its destination. She knew about the explosives planted on the ship and the spies planted in their crew. But the Colony Ship was to be left untouched. There had been no plan to destroy the colonists. The ship should have been disabled shortly after leaving the stations, but that attempt failed. 

The back-up plan was put in place. Their inside plant, Wentworth, had been given the order to alter the Colony Ship's course before the Roanoke departed from it. She had fulfilled that order, as well as the order to destroy the Roanoke. She was dead now, according to the reports. Heller had been in position to report back on the actions of the members of Eden Advance, if they survived. Her medical logs would prove invaluable. 

Mayland's mission was to simply pick up the Colony ship at its proscribed location, bring it into orbit, awake the passengers, and begin her administration. The colonists would have made an excellent labor source. 

These people shouldn't have survived. They should not have found the Colony Ship and tried to move it. Mayland reasoned that the Colony Ship must have been booby-trapped to keep Adair from bringing the occupants to the planet. She was rather annoyed that nobody had bothered to tell her that, that nobody had realized the stupidity of such a plan. It made their whole mission rather pointless. She had brought a ruling force with her to a planet with nobody to rule. 

The Council Liaison, Nathan Grand, wanted to access the CommDish and its systems. The residents brought forward their Government Liaison. He was a crippled man who hardly seemed to fit the profile. He was listed as Morgan Martin, Level 4. Martin was a thin, tall, longhaired man, who looked ridiculous next to balding, short and stout Nathan Grand. Nathan found a couple of guards and took Martin with him to the CommDish. Mayland had to admit that it was a relief to get away from Grand for a while. 

Mayland shook her head slowly at the sight of the CommDish. It was a wreck. The Advancers (which is what they called themselves) had built some sort of a structure off one side of it, living quarters, as if to humiliate the high standards of communication that the dish symbolized. In fact, everything around them was built out of trash. 

She wrinkled her nose slightly at the ugliness of what was around her. She had learned that they had used the bits and pieces of recoverable material from the CargoPods to build the structures, along with what they could find around them. She would have been happier if they had not used any of the materials from the CargoPods. The conglomeration of wood, metal, plastic, reed, mud and glass seemed to be a slap in the face of everything she held dear. 

Mayland kept her mechanic, Jim Bower, nearby. It was funny to see their reaction to the title. Obviously, they were not familiar with the Council's sense of humor. Bower never fixed anything mechanical in his life, his skills lay in the opposite direction. He was a trained bodyguard, built like a brick, and assigned to protect her life. During her first meeting with Adair, Bower had pulled his weapon and kept it trained on the woman. He still held the laser pistol ready as they walked around the compound. 

Once a quick survey was completed, she sent her pilot, Alex, back to the shuttle in the DuneRail with two of the guard. He brought the shuttle in closer, so that it would be easier to defend. There were reports of various aliens in the area, and those reports were to be taken seriously. Now her entire guard of twelve men were together and at her disposal.

"Is that all the information you have on the Colony Ship?" Mayland asked seriously, "It simply exploded when it reached the planet?" 

Adair nodded, "We contacted it with the CommDish and tried to bring it into orbit. It broke up once we had it within the moons' orbit." 

Mayland looked at her quizzically, "What do you mean, broke up?" 

"I would like to use stronger words, like 'sabotaged,' but I have no proof." 

Mayland smiled, "Surely you are not accusing the Council of having anything to do with that?" 

"I am accusing no one," Adair answered levelly. 

Mayland didn't speak again for several minutes. "You lost some of your people during the journey. And then again, recently there were several more deaths? Explain that to me," she said firmly. 

"Captain O'Neil was killed by some of the planet's animals. We lost him quite early on. We were separated from one of the Escape Pods at the start. By the time we found them, they were infected with an illness, and we lost all of them. And then Eben Singh died due to a malfunction in her BioStat chip." She said this last part darkly. 

"Oh yes, the BioStat chip. That is unfortunate. I would think that you have not received any further difficulty regarding that?" Mayland said, leadingly. 

"Nothing that we couldn't handle," Devon responded. "And then recently we lost several more of our people." 

Mayland looked at a list in her hand, "Solace, Baines, Mazatl, Danziger - both father and daughter, Bess Martin and Heller." She said matter-of-factly. "Wasn't Heller your doctor?" That was unfortunate. They had a special plan for Heller. 

"Yes, our doctor. Every one of them was important." 

"You said that it was some sort of an attack." Mayland stated. 

Devon nodded, "Yes, it was the Killers. That's the only name we could come up with." 

Mayland raised an eyebrow at this. "You will give me a full report on this attack, of course. We will need to examine the bodies." 

"There is nothing left to examine," Adair said dully. "Life has been very hard here. We are lucky to still be alive." 

The Council Leader shook her head and then gestured to the buildings around them. "You certainly were able to complete quite a bit of building. It must have been a disappointment when the Colony Ship broke up." 

"You have no idea." Adair answered.

* * * *

Nathan Grand stood protectively beside his computer, which was wired into the CommDish main computer. He ensured that the download was proceeding as expected, and then turned toward Martin. "Do you think you could increase the air replacement efficiency? It stinks in here." 

Martin shrugged. "There isn't any ventilation system. We're lucky to have fans." He indicated a small fan that sat on the floor, inefficiently stirring up the air. "I could open the door. That's about it for venting the air." 

Nathan glanced at the door to the outside. The guards were just beyond it and he knew that protocol denied that they be allowed to hear any conversation between liaisons. "Forget it," he muttered. He watched the computers for a moment and then said, "I can't see how you could stand it here for so long. I mean, some of these other idiots, fine. But you're a member of the government. I would have thought you could have remained above it. But, I see that you fell into the same mire as the rest of them." 

This government liaison was a mess. It was imperative that members of the government always present a well-groomed, superior image. This person before him looked as if he had never attended a class in proper dress techniques. He looked like an idiot and a fool. He was definitely below Nathan's class. 

Martin had been efficient enough at least to have downloaded every computer log into this main computer. Nathan's copying would take about half the time he first expected. Nathan watched as Martin stood slowly and using a knobby stick, limped across the small room to a table, where he retrieved a bottle of water. "Thirsty?" Martin asked. 

Nathan curled his lip. "That doesn't appear to be hygienically sealed. What procedure is used for sterilization?" 

Martin gestured vaguely toward the windmill, which stood beyond the closed door. "We pump it out of the ground," he said. 

Nathan shuddered. "I would rather die of thirst," he replied. He watched Martin critically. "What exactly is wrong with you anyway?"" 

"Oh, I heroically saved a girl," Martin said gallantly. "Risked my very life, just about killed myself. I ended up smashing my knee up pretty bad. Ever since then I've been like this." He waved his stick around for emphasis. "The doctor pinned my knee in place so I can't bend my leg anymore. Hurts like hell most of the time, but nobody here cares. My wife used to, but she's gone now. Everyone here treats me like a third wheel, like they don't really want me here." 

"What was the matter with your doctor? Either she was an imbecile or she hated you - one or the other. You're lucky she's dead in either case." 

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Martin said, sipping from the container. "So how are things back home?" 

"They've added onto platform XB19J," Nathan replied. "They have a new arcade and a vendo-mat. It was just up the row from my quarters. It was really something to see, everything brand new." He shook his head. "Hard to believe it will be fifty years old by the time I get back." 

"You're going back?" Martin queried. 

"You bet your life. There's nothing to keep me here. I'm heading back as soon as they get the ship turned around." Nathan was actually enjoying this time with the liaison. It had been a long time since he talked to someone who didn't treat him like an undesirable. Even though he could hardly consider Martin an equal, he could see the two of them becoming great friends. 

****

"I have never seen a bigger fiasco in all my life." Bower said, storming around the large room. They had taken over the largest structure in the village, which the Advancers had strangely named 'The Great House.' "We came 22 light years for nothing. All you have here is a handful of leftover freaks." 

Mayland turned to Nathan, who was studying the scan-logs from the CommDish celestial surveys. "So does it all add up?" she asked. 

"According to these logs, they found the Colony ship two years ago and were able to access the controls remotely. They activated the systems and brought it into orbit around the planet. At that point the ship, for no apparent reason, came apart. That's the same story they've been telling us, and you can't fake these logs." 

"Is there any sign of an explosion?" Mayland pressed. 

Nathan shrugged. "They got no way of knowing. One minute they're steering the ship into orbit, the next minute they got dead air, and a million shooting stars. Blam. Gaz-finkto! They didn't have any monitoring devices in orbit, so once the ship was gone, there was no way of telling anything else about it." 

"So," Bower leaned heavily against the thick wooden table, "Who's the wise guy who came up with this plan? Who decided to send us here for NOTHING!" 

Mayland lay her head miserably on the table. She was supposed to be the first Governor of New Pacifica. She hadn't been pleased when she heard that she had been assigned to this task, but once she became used to the idea of ruling, she had come to like it. There wouldn't be much here at first, but if she were successful, millions of people would follow her. There was hardly any room left at the stations and hardly any resources remained on Earth to build onto what they already had. If all went well, decent people would come to live here some day, not just criminals and dying children. Now it looked like none of that would happen. This place was not suitable for decent people. 

She was tired. She had spent the day interviewing each of the surviving members of Eden Advance. First had been Adair who seemed defensive and antagonistic, but she provided a great deal of information. Then she interviewed the yale, which backed up everything that its employer had said. Mayland was glad that Bower was nearby. She could not trust a yale. 

Denner had been next on the list, a quiet and timid thing who could hardly speak while Bower was in the room. She ordered Bower to stow his weapon, and the fragile looking woman was at least able to answer questions. Cameron was quite helpful. He answered all of her questions immediately and thoroughly, a good 'yes man.' He seemed relaxed and asked them about their plans for the future on G889. He seemed to think he had a future with them. 

The next interview was with Ulysses Adair. He was a strange child and of great interest to the Council. Mayland couldn't help but think that this boy was one of those 'whispered about children', born with The Syndrome. He was apparently healthy and happy now. Preliminary study of the medical logs showed that the boy had been cured by the native foods. Nathan had made a copy of the medical log, but she would not send it to her doctor immediately. Mayland would have to remove the confidential coded messages first. 

The Walman interview proved that not everyone was happy with the way things were going. Although he never said anything against Adair, he did not say anything good either. Magus was next, she was less inclined to hold back her opinions of Adair, referring to her as Queen of Pacifica at one point. 

The last interview was with Martin. He was also unable to hold back his dissatisfaction with the way things were going, and seemed interested in interviewing them most of the time. He was eager to tell them anything they wanted to know. 

Every one of them, despite their differences, told the same story. Their personal, medical, scientific and administrative logs all confirmed what they had said. These eight people were all that was left after a disastrous mission. The planet was hostile, with few areas that were capable of supporting human life. They had collected extensive reports on geology, without any hint of significant resources to exploit. It became obvious that this group was just barely surviving. It seems that the earlier reports were somewhat misleading. 

She looked at her staff. Nathan was tapping away at the keyboard while Bower was picking at an uneven spot on the table. Alex, her pilot, appeared to be asleep. Theo and Alison, her aides, looked bored and were going over the recorded interviews for the fifth time. So, she had journeyed 22 light years with this staff, plus 100 Council Guards, her Lieutenant Governor, various assistants and administrators, and her personal physician, enough people to control a population of 1,000 people. And they found only eight survivors. 

"So, what do we do? Pack up and go home?" Bower asked loudly. 

"I say we go now," Nathan interjected. "Martin told me about those Grendler things. Do you know they crave human blood? And those things they call the Killers... I know I don't want to meet up with one of those." 

Mayland frowned deeply, "I am aware of these creatures. We must not abandon our mission. Remember why we were sent here." 

"We were sent to set up a Council Government over the inhabitants of New Pacifica," Bower grumbled. "I see we outnumber them with just our initial force here. If we were to open all the Cold Crypts on the ship, we'd outnumber them like 20 to 1. That's quite a government. I say, we pack up and go home. Hell, if they want to send another ship-load of refuse to this place, they can send a new group of recruits with them. There is no point to us staying here. Why the hell should we? This place is a waste." 

Mayland sighed, there was something that bothered her. Something about the sameness of each of their stories, "Nathan, is it possible that the logs were tampered with?" 

Nathan sighed, "These are high protocol logs. You would have to rewrite major sections of code at the very base level. It would take years to do something like that." 

"They've been here for years," Mayland said. 

Nathan snorted, "I've seen their liaison. He's okay, but he's not capable of that sort of thing. Look, it's a near impossibility. First you'd have to rewrite the code, then you'd have to replace the scrolling data. This is mind-numbing work. I mean, he'd have to be at it every day for five or six years, and that Martin couldn't do it. And, when you're done, it would have to fool me. I'm not going to be fooled. I'm the expert at this sort of thing. You gotta listen to me." 

"Theo," Mayland said to one of her sleepy-eyed aides. "Assign four of the guards to check out some of the data in the logs. Put Captain Simmons in charge. He has been trained for geological survey. I want to be assured that everything is exactly as it is stated in the record. Send them back across the Eden Advance's route and verify everything." 

Theo, a slight man with light brown skin and short black hair, stood. "How far do you want them to go?" he asked. 

"Until I say to stop," she replied. 

Theo looked about nervously. "Ah, What about those weird creatures? I heard about those Killer things too. That Magus woman told me that they just latch onto you and devour you from the inside out." 

Mayland shrugged, "If Simmons can't handle that, then I don't want him on my staff." 

"And what are you going to do about that boy?" Bower said slyly. "If he is truly cured of the Syndrome, you know the Council will be interested." 

"I believe you are right. He will be worth further investigation. We will get him on board the ship and let Dr. Li do whatever she wants with him. But not yet. We don't want to cause any alarm. I have the feeling that something else is going on here. We will wait until the scouting party returns with their findings. If I have reason to believe that there is something further to investigate, I will continue to research. If the scouting party returns and tells me that everything is exactly as they said it would be, then we know that they haven't tried to bend the truth. We could believe that the data in these logs is correct, and we will have no need to investigate this planet any further. It is then that we would take the boy, along with a fair sampling of the vegetation that cured him." 

Bower growled, "There are only eight of them. Why do you want to toy with them like this." 

"Because, they must believe that we are playing fairly. This planet holds many mysteries and I have a feeling that they know a lot more than they are saying. If we take the boy now, we will never gain anything from them. We must wait and see." 

* * * *

Mayland had spent a week at the rat-bag collection of buildings known as Roanoke Colony. The scouting party had returned news that there were no errors or omissions in the logs. They had crossed the mountains and were now dropping into an arid valley. The Eden Advance maps matched perfectly. Simmons seemed nervous and fidgety as he spoke, obviously affected by the stories the Advancers had told him. Mayland decided to keep them out for another week, despite their protests. 

It was difficult getting used to this way of living. When she was preparing the ship for the mission, she asked whether they would need to bring their own buildings, but was assured that the Government Facilities were included with the original consignment. They would only need to confiscate what they wanted. She should have gone with her first inclination. Living in the rough building was little better than living in a hole. At least she had been wise enough to insist on bringing their own lavatory facilities. 

Bower was getting restless. He wasn't the type of person that did well in such calm and quiet surroundings. Nathan spent most of his time with the liaison, Martin. They seemed to hit it off fairly well since nobody else seemed to want to talk to either of them. 

Alex was kept close at hand, mostly because she liked having him around. He was easy to control and handsome to look at, tall and blonde with rugged features. And of course, he had the most charming accent. Theo and Alison were at her beck-and-call. Yet, she couldn't help but feel depressed. She should have been lording over so much more. 

Of course, she could have sent for further troops to be awakened and brought to the surface, but it seemed pointless. It was better to keep them in ColdSleep. There was no need for them here. There was always a risk when one is awakened from ColdSleep, and she felt the stations would be better equipped to handle any problems. 

She met the Adair woman as she walked from the Great House one day. "Good morning, Governor Vance." Adair said, "I hope that you're feeling well this morning?" 

Mayland grimaced, "The beds are uncomfortable, the air is too humid and warm, the sun is too bright. I don't know how you have survived on this planet for seven years. At least we brought our own food. The items I saw in your 'cook house' were revolting." 

Adair nodded sympathetically. "Well, they are nourishing, and they did cure my son. Of course, your food supplies will run out in time. Eventually you will need to start eating food from this planet." 

Mayland shook her head. She wasn't planning on remaining here until the food supplies ran out. She had come to the decision to leave the planet unless there was a decent reason to stay. So far, she had seen nothing. 

The Adair woman continued to comment on the absurd notion that it was actually a pleasant day. Mayland just nodded silently until she finally said goodbye to Adair and headed back to her quarters. She stalked several paces away and then turned to face Adair. Mayland couldn't help but think that the woman had a smug, self-satisfied look on her face. The expression disappeared and became a shallow smile. Mayland turned and continued on her path. 

****

Alison LaSalle picked her way across the grassy area to the tower. She was a tiny woman, with long blonde hair and a perfect little face. She had never planned to set foot on a planet. She certainly didn't belong on in this strange place, so far from home. When she joined the Council, she thought her life would be easy until the end of her days. She didn't realize that once she was part of that hallowed organization, she would have to do whatever they asked of her; whether it meant fawning over an overblown governor, reading endlessly boring computer logs, or getting a portable toilet fixed. 

She made her way toward the Advancer women named Magus and Denner. They were sitting beneath the windmill washing out dirty clothing in a foul looking basin. She was glad that she wasn't allowed to interact with them. At least they didn't expect her to be friendly. "The Governor requires one of your group to repair an item in her possession." 

"Yeah, what's that?" Magus said, pulling a dripping wad of cloth from the brackish water. 

Alison turned slightly red. "Her toilet is backed up." 

Both Denner and Magus laughed. Denner said, "She gets her own toilet?" 

She looked down, trying not to let the Advancer women see her embarrassment. "We are all allowed to use it. It is Council property." 

"You can always use the latrine you know," Denner said helpfully. She pointed off toward the shack on the far side of the camp. "We haven't had much luck in fixing things since we lost our mechanic. But at least our sewer system still works." 

Alison frowned, realizing that if she were unable to find someone amongst the Advancers, she would get the job. "Let's see you give it a try," she said coldly to Magus. 

Magus continued to move the bits of rags about in the water. "I don't know. That's not in my job description." 

"I could get Mr. Bower over here to convince you." 

Magus slapped the cloth back into the water and gave Denner a disgruntled look. "Hey Denner," she said, "It looks like I'm going to be fixing a toilet today." 

****

Theo sighed as he served the rations for the day. He dropped a square of spirulina on each plate that went past, careful to make sure that nobody went past him twice. He didn't think his life would come to serving a bunch of surly Council Guards. Nobody seemed happy to be there. He wished he could tell them that Governor Vance was planning on returning to the stations, but such confidential information could not be discussed. 

Much of the talk that day concerned the 'Grendlers' that apparently tried to get into the shuttle. The creatures were driven off, but they had managed to do some damage to the apparatus. It would take some time to make repairs. They were hideous, smelly creatures, who wanted human blood and whatever technical equipment they could carry. This certainly was a wretched place. 

Once the food line was finished, he secured the remaining rations and then picked up his own meal and headed over to an empty seat in the main hall of the Great House. 

He sat next to Alex, who leaned back on the narrow bench, resting his head against the wall. His long legs were propped up against another bench. He was angled so that he could see out the window on the opposite wall. Theo sat down stiffly beside him. "So, how are you holding up?" he asked the pilot. 

"Have you ever stopped to see how beautiful it is here?" Alex said quietly. 

Theo stopped, his spirulina bar half unwrapped. "I guess I never thought about that," the aide replied. 

****

Mayland was working in her quarters, a small apartment in the Great House. She had finished extracting the coded material from the medical logs, but had found nothing worthwhile in the entries. So, she went on to record her daily report in her personal log. She had just completed the report on the shoddy repair work on the lavatory system when Nathan suddenly burst into the room, his face white as a sheet. "He's dead!" he said. 

"What? Who's dead?" Mayland stood quickly and crossed the floor to where Nathan stood, tottering. "Who's dead?" she said again. 

"That Walman guy. He's dead." Nathan moved away from the door, "Don't go out there. It will get you too!" His voice was high and he looked like he was going to faint. 

Mayland glared at him, "What happened?" 

"That thing got him!" Nathan cried. 

The door suddenly flung open and Nathan screamed in fear. Bower plowed his way into the room, gave Nathan a disgusted look and then said to Mayland, "I think you'd better come out." 

She followed her mechanic out of the Great House and across the open area to the body of Walman. The other Advancers stood around him, their faces sorrowful and strained. Most of her guard was standing with their backs toward this group, their weapons drawn, and pointing in every direction. 

"What happened?" Mayland said again. 

"It was only a matter of time," Adair said with a sigh. "He was attacked by one of the Killers." 

"I saw it happen!" Nathan said, as he came up beside her. He glanced to the forest as he spoke. "This huge ugly black insect just came out of nowhere and jumped on him. Gawd, it must have been at least a half meter tall. It bit him on the throat and he just fell over like that, dead." 

Mayland knelt down beside the prone man and felt for a pulse, there was none. The body was slack and empty. 

"This is how we lost the others," Adair said grimily. "The bite of the Killer is deadly. They inject their victim with venom that will slowly dissolve the flesh from the inside out. It will come back later to feast." Adair nodded to the other Advancers. "You know what to do. The sooner the better." 

Four of the Advancers came forward, took the body by the ankles and shoulders and hefted it upward. The solemn group shuffled across the open area toward the beach. They were a grim and silent bunch, obviously beaten down by these circumstances. 

"Where are you taking him?" Mayland asked. 

"We will bury him at sea," Adair answered. "If we try to bury him on land, he will only be dug up by the creatures that live nearby. We will be safer if he is at the bottom of the ocean." 

"We will transport him to the ship for analysis," Mayland said, nodding to several of her guards. 

"His body is already dissolving. Your shuttle isn't currently capable of flight, and you have no ColdCrypt facilities on board. By the time you are ready to depart, the body will be rendered nothing more than a pile of partially digested flesh," Adair said numbly. Nathan cringed, as did the majority of the guard. Even Bower looked a little ill at the description. Adair continued, "The smell is quite overpowering. You will have quite a bit of trouble keeping the local wildlife away." She looked around at the group. "This has happened before." 

"Get rid of him then," Mayland barked. She glanced around at her guard, "I want you to capture one of these 'Killers' for our analysis. We have to be prepared with an antidote. Grand, did you see where this thing went." 

Nathan, who looked like he needed to sit down, pointed vaguely toward a wooded area. None of the guard looked like they wanted to go. 

The Advancers moved the body down to the shoreline and placed it in the bottom of one of their flimsy looking crafts. Two of the group, Magus and Cameron, stepped into the boat. The others milled around the shore, looking for large stones, which they tucked into Walman's clothing to act as weights. Someone found a length of rope and the weights were secured. Then they shoved the boat off the shore and the two Advancers paddled it slowly out into the protected bay. 

Once the boat had disappeared into the mist, the other Advancers turned and headed away from the sea. 

"That's it?" Nathan asked, "I mean, isn't anyone going to say anything? That guy just died and you just throw him into the bottom of a boat and row him out to sea?" 

Martin shrugged, "What else is there to do? Nobody cares anymore." Martin hobbled off, following after the rest of the Advancers. 

"I hate this place," Nathan muttered. 

* * * *

The latest report from the scouting party was heartening, in that they had found nothing new to report. The transmissions came in regularly as clockwork, twice a day. The scouts had crossed the arid valley and reached a rolling countryside. Mayland couldn't help but notice how tense Simmons was becoming. His eyes would dart about nervously and his voice seemed strained, but he never had anything to report beyond the fact that nothing was out of order. It was unusual for the Commander of the Guard to be so edgy, but the circumstances obviously warranted it.

"So," Bower said with a yawn, "How much longer are you going to keep this up? We've been hanging out for over a week. And finding a big fat nothing. This is just one big empty planet." He lowered his head and said, "You've been duped, Vance." 

Mayland turned and walked around the room slowly. He was right. For all the hope and bluster, this planet appeared to be nothing more than a forbidding rock. Her orders were to stay, but that was only because there was supposed to be 1,000 colonists to supervise. She was also supposed to prepare a report for the Council on the viability of the planet. She already had the data in her computers; the Advancers had done that for her. Now she just had the problem of the Advancers. "We'll dispose of loose ends and leave," She said quietly. 

"What?" Nathan suddenly raised his head, "What did you mean by that?" 

"Their execution was approved when the bomb was planted on their ship. Everyone here should have been dead for almost 30 years now. Theo, recall the scouting party. Tomorrow, we complete that order and begin our journey back to our home with the boy. He at least is of some value." 

"But couldn't we take some of the others too?" Nathan asked. "We don't have to kill them." 

Bower snorted, "And I suppose you want to give up your Stasis Chamber for your crippled friend, huh? Think about it Grand, we got only one spare chamber and we're stickin' that boy in it. There isn't room for the others." 

Nathan was looking around the room stupidly while Theo pulled on his GEAR to contact the guard. Bower just whistled and spun his weapon on the table. 

**** 

"So, how do you feel about these people?" Nathan asked, "I mean, they don't seem like they're your friends or anything." He fiddled absently with his portable computer, which was always in arms reach. 

Martin shrugged, "I could take them or leave them. Did you check with the Governor to see when I would be able to board your ship and see your doctor?" They were in Martin's home, which seemed rather large for one man and his wife, but there was plenty of space on this planet. That was one of the things that the planet did have. Martin had recently introduced Nathan to the berry wine that they had produced on the planet, and together they were working their way through their second bottle. 

"Yeah, well, I was going to get around to talking to Governor Vance about getting you to see a proper doctor. Our Dr. Li is pretty damn good. She's a looker too. I mean, if I wasn't already married, I might have a go at her. Hell, Nancy's in ColdSleep. Maybe now is my chance." He drained his glass and Martin thoughtfully refilled it. "You know, all things considered, I bet you don't really feel that you are a part of this group. I mean, you are a government employee right? You're different." 

"You got that right," Martin said with a sigh. 

"I know how you feel," Nathan said sullenly, "Nobody appreciates anything I do. I am in the exact same boat that you are, the exact same." He was surprised to find his vision getting so bleary. The wine he could afford on the stations was rather tame compared to Vino Magus. "You are possibly the only friend I have here, the only friend. I know that sounds impossible, I mean, just look at you. But, you are my only friend." 

Martin nodded, "Yeah, well, I guess that goes for me too." He nodded, "You are a good guy to know Nate." 

The two drank together in silence for some time. Nathan thought carefully about telling the government liaison about what he had heard that day. It would be the decent thing to do, save the one person who was kind to him. Nathan could tell Martin to head for the hills for a while. He would just need to hide out for a few days. The guard would give up on him soon enough. He looked at Martin over the top of his glass and said nothing. 

They continued to drink the sweet strong wine until a strange tapping sound started. Nathan leapt unsteady to his feet and tried to determine where the noise was coming from. "What is it?" he said with alarm. 

"Just the rain," Morgan answered. "It'll stop eventually." 

**** 

Nathan awoke with a start. The tapping noise had become a pounding. He listened to the sound for almost a minute before he realized that it wasn't the rain. He stumbled to his feet and crossed the small living room. His head was throbbing as he threw open the door to see two of the guard and Bower, in the falling rain. One of the guard looked alarmed as he gazed skyward at the falling precipitation. The other simply hunched his shoulders against the rain. It was morning. "What the hell is going on!" Bower barked and barreled into the room. "Are they here?" 

"What?" Nathan said wheeling backward in his attempt to get out of Bower's way. "Who are you looking for? It's just me and Martin here." He turned around to indicate the chair where Martin had been sitting that night, but the chair was vacant. 

Bower sneered at Nathan and pulled the guards into the house. "Find Martin," he said as he directed the guards toward the other rooms. He pulled open the door to the CommDish and peered inside. 

"Martin?" Nathan said, looking around Bower and into the CommDish. With his bleary eyesight and painful head, it took a moment for the liaison to take in the sight. Half the computer system was missing. 

Bower spun around toward him. "What the hell went on here!" 

Nathan grabbed at his head again. "It's not my fault, not my fault." He turned to his chair and gasped suddenly. He dove toward the small table, tossing aside the bottles and glasses, as if he expected to find something hidden under them. "My computer! It's gone!" 

Bower narrowed his eyes. "You let the weakest member of the group slip out of here with your portable and then let a whole troop of them get in there to take everything they could carry off from the electronics bay? I'm going to kill you for this one Grand." 

Mayland Vance suddenly entered, slapping the rain from her coat. She glared at Bower, "And who exactly is responsible for the disappearance of the rest of them? Nobody seemed to see anything happen last night. They are all gone." 

The guards returned to the main room shaking their heads. Mayland crossed the floor and peered into the electronics bay. She sighed when she saw the damage. 

Nathan said, "Where could they have gone anyway? All the logs show that there is no livable areas nearby." 

"The horses are gone, the ATV is gone, the people are gone and half the communication system went with them," Mayland said levelly. "I want them found. I want them found now." Alison suddenly appeared behind her, and Mayland directed an order to her, "Get Simmons on line, tell him I have a new mission for him." 

"That's just it." Alison said breathlessly, "We've lost contact. He hasn't reported in since last night." 

Bower snorted, "So something's happened to the intrepid Captain Simmons now? Another disappearance attributed to the mysterious Roanoke colony," he said sarcastically. 

Mayland glared at Bower. She still had eight of her original guard left, along with the two aides, the mechanic, liaison and pilot. She could send the pilot back to the ship for more reinforcements, but she felt the need to keep this to a minimum. To bring more guards to the planet would only show that she couldn't handle the situation with her Initial Contact Group. Lieutenant Governor Parkins would definitely take note of that, and report it to their superiors. 

"Trimble," she said to the guard nearest her, "I want you to get your team and track down the Advancers. I want them back now. Find Simmons while you're at it." 

Trimble nodded, signaled to the second guard, Reno, and both left the building in a hurry. Trimble slipped slightly in the mud when his feet left the gravel path, and he quickly returned to it. Mayland watched the guards go, feeling as dark as the sky. 

Bower pointed a thumb at the quaking liaison, "And what do we do about him? If he wasn't drunk they wouldn't have gotten way with the computer systems." 

"I'll put him on report for dereliction of duties," Mayland said, "But I swear, if you lay a hand on him, I'll have you executed. I don't need that kind of dissension among my own people." 

Bower quickly pulled back his arm, and held up his hands as if in surrender. "If you want a traitor among your people, that's your own doing." 

Alex entered the building and looked around at the inhabitants. "Is it true?" he asked. "Every Advancer has departed?" 

"Every last living one of them," Mayland Vance said unhappily, "and they are not going to stay that way." 

**** 

Devon Adair looked out to sea. It was strange to see dusk fall without a sun setting into the ocean. Everything seemed backwards. Three days had passed since they had finally abandoned their home, and it still felt unnatural to be here, on this distant shore. It had been a year since Morgan had first found the Council Ship, hurtling toward them. A year had been just enough time to prepare. She ran her hand along the smooth pearls of her necklace. It felt good to be wearing it again.

She turned and walked slowly up the beach to where the tents were erected beside an outcropping of rock. Walman was lying in a hammock, with Magus slowly rocking him with her foot. "And how is our patient today?" Devon asked. 

"Groggy as hell. I wish Morgan had told me what it felt like to get a real dose of koba venom," Walman said with a grimace. "I feel like crap. And that stupid spider keeps coming around here to jump on me and to gnaw on my neck. Talk about a one-trick-pony, he thinks he has to show off every time he has an audience. As if I need that sorta stuff when I feel like this." 

"Don't worry, Devon," Magus said with a grin. "I'm looking after him. He gets to be a big baby for a few more days and that will be the end of it." 

She left the two of them and walked past the tents where Denner and Bess were putting their children to bed. Julia was still wrestling with Hugh by the water tanks. "And how are the children doing tonight?" she asked the doctor. 

"If I could just get Hugh to sleep, I'd be happy." The boy tried to squirm out of her grasp, but she caught him. "I don't know how Bess, True and I managed to keep five children, plus 30 goats, 50 chickens and a dozen horses under control while the rest of you were off playing your part in this little plot." 

Devon stooped down beside them, and ran her hand through Hugh's dark, thick hair. "You had the most important part of all," she said softly. 

"I'm just glad to have you back with us." Julia scooped the boy up in her arms. "Now let's just get the rest of us over here." 

"...And then get us home," Devon said thoughtfully. She continued toward the back of the enclosure, to where two caves stared out of the wall. She stepped into the first, to find Uly and Ed the Grendler watching the four Council Guards. The leader of the group stood up and approached the bars that kept them captive. Baines and Alonzo had taken them shortly after they had left Roanoke colony, and had held them prisoner in the hillside. They had been moved to this location when their daily transmissions were no longer necessary. 

"I demand that you release us immediately," Captain Simmons said dramatically. 

"In due time," Devon said. "In the meanwhile, relax. You will continue to receive the same fine treatment you have been during your stay. You just won't need to make any more calls to your superior." Simmons squinted at the bars, ingeniously imbedded in the rock. "Oh, and don't mess around too much with those bars, it will upset the Grendler, and you don't want to deal with that." 

She smiled at her son as she left. She had been wary about his staying with her at Roanoke Colony during its occupation, but Uly had insisted. "They must know that there is a cure," he had said. "They don't need to know exactly what it is, but as long as they know it is possible, they may continue to send the sick kids here. That's what's important." 

She made her way out of the cave that formed the prison, and glanced into its neighboring cave, the spider-cave that provided them with their escape from their home. It would be their way back too. The Grendlers had told them the secrets of how to identify the various spiders and mapped the network of caves. The Advancers had perfected the use of the transport procedure, and could operate it without fear of getting bitten by the 'love bug.' There were other caves nearby, connecting them to other parts of the continent. Their food stores were stockpiled at the mouths of these caves. 

Yale and True were talking with the Agnes the Grendler, who was keeping a close eye on her child, Ted. Another Grendler sat beside her, whom they called Lily, because her name meant White Flower in her own language. They all looked up when Devon approached them. Yale spoke, "Lily says that she has heard back from everyone and they have agreed to their tasks. She also says that they liked the pies." 

"Good," Devon responded, "Make sure she understands how much we appreciate her help. Thank her for me." 

Yale spoke again in the gruff Grendler speech, and both of the elder creatures tossed their heads in understanding. The young one mimicked the others, and received a gentle pat from his mother. 

As Devon walked away from the group, she could hear their chickens cackling in their pen just beyond the tents. Their horses stamped restlessly in their new corral, while the goats settled in for the night. They had moved everything here, everything they would need to start up their lives again once the threat had been removed. They had let the fields go fallow. They had picked the fruit green and let the orchards run wild. Over the years they had stored enough food to tide them over for this lean season. 

They had stayed in Roanoke for two purposes. First, to ensure that the Council realized that the cure existed, and secondly, to repel the Council itself. They had deviously detonated Eve's ship, knowing that the debris of one ship is pretty much like the debris of another, and would hopefully be enough to convince the Council that the Colony Ship was the one that exploded. As long as nobody bothered to look too closely, it would have to suffice. They had run the chance that the Council was aware of Eve's ship and would wonder at its absence. So far it appeared that they had not known of Eve's existence. 

The planet had to be made to look as hostile as possible. They wore their earliest efforts at clothing, cut back on the bathing, Grendlers were organized, Stan was taught a simple trick, stories were invented, maps were redrawn, and history was changed as every computer log had been re-written. From the time that Morgan had stopped looking for the Colony Ship, she had put him to the task of rewriting logs. He had just finished the last of the forgeries in time for the Council's consideration. 

Devon stepped into the communications tent, where Morgan was bent over the comm-system. Stan, the spider, turned on his perch above the spliced together equipment and looked at Devon with his five beady eyes. "Is it ready yet?" she asked. 

Morgan frowned, "Just a little bit more. I am waiting for the last connection ... there! Ha! We got 'em all!" he flipped his GEAR into position and said, "Alonzo, are you there?" 

Devon pulled on her GEAR and joined the conversation. "Alonzo, you're coming in perfectly. How's the weather at the Notch?" 

The image of Alonzo smirked, while the actual man stood on the opposite side of the continent. "Rainy! But what to you expect in the fall. I understand Baines is enjoying a sun-break." 

Baines chimed into the conversation, "It's kinda nice here at Mary's Garden, our old Winter Camp. Hopefully we can get this thing automated like you said, and I can clear out of here before winter. At least we were smart enough to send Zero to the hot zone." 

"I am capable of withstanding severe weather fluctuations." The mechanical worker spoke from the desert, near where they had originally landed. "I am more than happy to assist in this exciting endeavor." 

"Would everyone just quiet down!" Danziger grumbled. He was in the eastern desert, and her heart pounded when she heard his voice. "Mazatl at least has kept his mouth shut."

"Haven't had a chance to speak," Mazatl said from a platform in the treetops of a forest a few hundred kilometers from Devon's position.

One more person made up their network. Cameron was stationed on a hillside, only a dozen kilometers away. He had ridden out to this location only yesterday. "Okay, now that we got the link made across the continent," he said, "let's see if this thing actually works." 

"Okay, everyone, switch off your displays and microphones. I need this comm line." Once the images flicked off the screens, Morgan's hands began flying across the keyboards. Stan bobbed excitedly on his ledge. "I should be into the Council's computer systems in no time. All of those programs I planted in our pseudo logs should come in handy. And of course I have the whole database of their encryption codes right here," he said, tapping Nathan's computer. "Once I access what's left of the CommDish, we should have free range of their entire computer system. I'll tap into Danziger's monitoring devices first though." It was Danziger's monitoring devices that alerted them to their impending doom. Microphones and cameras were hidden throughout the camp. 

The call to leave could not have come at a better time. They had left Roanoke at the beginning of the autumn rains. Once the earth became soaked, it would be almost impossible to cross the foothills. And the routes that had been so carefully entered into their phony computer logs, all led to dead-ends. The Council would not know where to turn. 

Devon waited for several moments and then said, "I need to contact one of the links." 

"Okay, yeah, just as long as you use one of those other frequencies I gave you. The Council will detect the higher ones," Morgan said, absently. "It should work just like a local transmission now that we got this network set up. You can reach any of the links directly." 

Devon walked out of the tent as she reset her GEAR. She signaled and Danziger answered. It was so good to see his face again. "How are you doing?" she asked. 

"I am on a hillside overlooking a field of dead-looking bushes, in the middle of nowhere, with a Grendler breathing down my neck," he replied. "And too damn far from the rest of you." 

"Once the network is stable, you can come back to us," she said. "We have Grendler support on all of our relays. You can hop into that spider-cave and be here in no time." 

"Yeah, but to you trust me enough to have me with the rest of you?" 

Devon sighed, "Please John, don't do this now." It was growing dark. She thought of her people, spread out across the country, most of them were still in daylight. The sun was probably still up where Danziger was standing. "We have to be so careful now. You have to come back to us." 

"...Where I will be a constant danger to the rest of you due to the fact that I would betray you all at the first chance I get," Danziger said lowly. 

"No, John, No," Devon said emphatically. "Don't you see how much I have done to prevent that? Don't you know how much you mean to me?" 

Danziger looked undecided. "Yeah, once the system is stable, then I can leave this place." He was silent for a moment, just looking at her face. "Hey, I better sign off. We don't want to make ourselves too obvious with these transmissions." 

"Come back to us soon," Devon said quickly. 

"As soon as I can," Danziger replied and his face faded from her view. 

Devon sighed and turned off her GEAR. She stood on an unfamiliar shore, looking out at an unfamiliar ocean. She had been here once before, when they had first discovered the spider-caves so many years ago. She had stood near this very spot with John. Now he seemed so far way. 

The stars above the sea were the same stars that she knew, the same constellations that rose and fell over Roanoke Colony. She looked up in time to see a meteorite flash across the sky, a falling star. She held her breath for a moment and then headed back into the communications tent. 

* * *

****

THE END of "The Falling Star" 

TO BE CONTINUED in "The Rain - Like a Curtain Falls". 

__

Okay, this one was a little weird to write. But I thought it was interesting to imagine how others might view the people we have come to love and appreciate. Am I annoying you by introducing so many new characters? I am deeply sorry about that. 

[Drop me a note, let me know what you think!][1] Were you annoyed by those Council people? 

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	11. The Rain, Like a Curtain Falls

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This story is based on the TV Show, Earth2 and is in no way meant to infringe on anyone or anything. It is for fun and nothing more. This story takes place after the series ended, and follows my previous stories. It is part of a Trilogy (you could call it a Quadrilogy, but this story is really just the first part of one bigger story that is completed in "The Sun - when it rose". Besides, I am the author, I can do whatever I want. 

* * *

**The Rain - Like a Curtain Falls**

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"The Moons, the Stars, the Rain and the Sun"

John Danziger leaned forward and patted his buckskin-colored horse. Pal turned his head and nickered softly. The man sighed and looked out across the blasted landscape. There was nothing to see but stunted bushes and vast rolling hills. He almost wished he were back at the transmitter with the Grendler, where at least there was water and a bit of shade. He turned to see the sharp monolith behind him, which rose like a proclaiming finger from the surrounding low hills. The transmitter, not visible from this location, was still working. He wasn't sure that he should have trusted the Grendler, named Pretty Plate. Plate seemed to be a little too interested in the shiny material of the signal-booster. 

He urged the horse forward and Pal responded accordingly, stepping easily across the barren landscape. The transmitter relay had been secured; there was no point in staying any longer. But where should he go? During the past year he had spent most of his time away from the others, scouting out high spots suitable for the relays, and at this moment, he wasn't sure if he wanted to return to their temporary camp, called New Atlantica.

A year ago Devon had revealed the lie, the deception that she had carried out. A year ago Devon had revealed that she did not trust him. He was a betrayer in her eyes, capable of giving away everything they had worked for. If she couldn't trust him with the simplest information, how could she trust him at all?

What could he do to prove to her that he could be trusted? He had done nothing to deserve this. So, a voice from the future told her of a betrayal that he would never complete. For this, he was lied to for years. For this, she no longer trusted him. He would have to do something to correct that.

It was time for him to go back to them, back to Devon and the others, back to the company of people who he would, in another life, betray. There were two spider-tunnels in the area. To the east lay a cave that connected him to New Atlantica and to the Advancers. To the west, a cave connected to New Pacifica and the Council. Danziger paused for a moment, the wind whipping up his hair and his horse's mane, and then he headed west.

* * * *

Morgan sipped from his cup while he tweaked the signal on the comm system. He worked at his keyboard until he had accessed the Council's main computer again. He opened the most recent files, checking through the information for anything of interest. There was the latest report from the second group of Council Guards, led by a Lieutenant Trimble. They had searched up and down the coastline, and were moving toward the foothills of the Last-Step Mountains. They had not yet found a viable pass through the mountains, and never would in that area. If they traveled further north they would reach Cameron's Pass and find their way through Gerting Valley, but the odds were against that. As long as the Advancers continued to manipulate the data, the Council would never suspect a northern pass. Everything that the Council was able to glean off the revised images and the tampered geological surveys showed that no such passage existed to the north.

He grabbed a battered thermos and poured himself another cup of tea. He shook the last drops out before he rested the thermos on the counter. He again wished that they had relieved the Council of some coffee when they'd had the chance. He could never quite get the hang of their home-grown tea. Sure, it was pleasant enough and supplied him with a decent caffeine buzz, but it wasn't coffee. Stanley, the ever-present spider, slept on the shelf above the comm-system. The creature twitched slightly in its sleep as Morgan moved around. 

Morgan, having found nothing of interest in the latest reports, switched to the surveillance cameras. He checked the Cook House, the Comm Dish and the Hospital systems before he found activity at the Great House. Governor Mayland Vance was talking to Bower and Grand. He tuned in the audio and listened. 

"If this idiot here hadn't let them run off with his portable..." the bodyguard, Jim Bower said, towering over the other two. "If he hadn't gotten drunk and just let them get away..."

"And where were you during all of this?" The Council Liaison, Nathan Grand, said. "You are much more to blame than I am. I mean, it's your job to protect our interests. This is all your fault."

"Yeah, and you were supposed to protect the data. You see where that got us." Bower leaned heavily against the smaller man.

Governor Vance stepped between them, shoving both of them back a few paces. "I think we've gone over this long enough. It's been three weeks since Adair and the others disappeared. I don't give a damn whose fault it is. I want them back in my custody. They are to face their crimes against the Council. I need a progress report, not another crap-session." She moved back to her previous position near her aides at their computers.

"Get some work done for a change," Bower growled at Grand. "You should have been able to pick up their signals by now."

Grand looked between Vance and Bower. "They are pretty difficult to track," he said defensively, "It's as if they're not even in the area anymore. They couldn't have gone that far. If they were nearby and if they were using their GEAR, I would certainly have picked them up by now."

"You couldn't pick up your own ass," Bower said with a grin, and pushed Grand. The smaller man collapsed under the pressure. 

"Governor Vance!" Grand squealed, looking ridiculous, sprawled on the floor. "Governor Vance!"

Vance stormed up to Bower. "You have heard me speak before, so you know I have very little patience for this kind of behavior." She gestured to Grand but made no attempt to help him to his feet. "I hired you to protect me, not to knock down people when you fancy it. You are going on report."

Bower's grin grew sour on his face and he glared at the liaison, who stood solemnly and straightened his tie.

Vance faced her aides, "I said, I needed a progress report. What do you have?"

Theo Raddison piped up. "We still have received no word from Captain Simmons and his team. We have not heard from them for three weeks now. Lieutenant Trimble reported in this morning without any new information. Do you want me to dispatch Lieutenant Hawking's team?"

Vance frowned, "Hawking is to remain here. I am not sending all of my guard into the unknown. Who else is left?"

Raddison answered, "Well, out of our original twelve guards, we have lost contact with the original four, and a second four are currently on patrol. That leaves Hawking, Orvis, Cecil and Tulmey."

Morgan turned when someone entered the tent. He had to adjust his mind to take in both the images on GEAR and to determine who was standing in the bright doorway. It caused him to cock his head curiously. "Hey Walman," he said, when he figured out who it was, "Get Devon, I think they're going to deploy another search party."

Walman snorted, "What do they think they'll find?"

"Us, I guess. Not that they'll have any luck. We don't have anyone on that side of the Last-Steps for them to find." Morgan responded as he drained his cup. "Get me a refill while you're up!"

"In your dreams," Walman replied, and left the tent.

Morgan turned his attention back to the transmitted conversation in time to hear Grand explode. "You're out of your mind! What about Raddison? What about LaSalle? They're expendable." The two aides looked up sharply at this comment.

Mayland grabbed the liaison by his suit jacket. "If I hear one more complaint out of you, I am going to put you away for life."

Bower chuckled at the liaison's predicament and then said, "I'm not going." He stood with his arm folded. "My job is to protect you, not to go off on some half-assed mission to find a bunch of low-life nothings with that piece of garbage. Send your damn pilot, or are you afraid he might mess his hair?"

"Your job is to obey my commands." Vance released Grand and approached Bower. "If I tell you to get into a DuneRail with this 'piece of garbage' and a couple of guards, you do it. You don't ask questions. You comply. You will leave in the morning with Cecil, Orvis and Grand. I am tired of waiting. Those people must be captured. They made me look like a fool."

"What's going on?" Devon's voice startled Morgan. He turned sharply, causing her to jump back to avoid being hit. She had been hovering over his shoulder.

"She's sending Bower and Grand out on a patrol with a couple of her guards," Morgan answered.

Devon smiled slightly, "She's getting desperate."

"I think she's just tired of having those two guys around. That Grand is real annoying," Morgan said, adjusting his GEAR slightly. "I don't know how they put up with him."

"Have you heard from Baines lately? We won't be ready to go until they are all set at their location."

"Yeah, he's still waiting," Morgan replied. Bower and Grand were still complaining on the transmission, but Vance and her aides had left the room. 

Grand brushed off his jacket. "I would listen to Governor Vance," he said. "And keep your hands off me. Don't push me down again"

Bower snarled, "You are dead. I do not need a turd like you making me look bad in front of the Governor. If I feel like pushing you down. I will do it wherever I please."

Morgan tried to look into his cup. It took a certain amount of concentration to be able to look at something in real life and watch something on GEAR at the same time. Looking at anything close-up was bound to bring a headache if he wasn't careful. 

"Keep me apprised of their situation," Devon said as she stood.

"I could really use a refill," Morgan said, picking up his thermos and waving it at Devon before she could disappear through the door.

* * * *

Baines leaned against the metal surface and sighed. Above him, the rain tapped and splattered on the high tarp. The portable heater gave off a feeble warmth, barely enough to take the chill out of the moist air. He squatted beside it to warm his hands. He had been waiting too long. His imagination was starting to get the best of him. He imagined ferocious wild dogs and strange alien creatures moving in the mist. 

He stood suddenly as a new sound invaded the hissing of the rain, and almost immediately he saw a shape emerge from curtain of mist. He grabbed the MagPro and aimed it at the moving image. "Hey!" Alonzo shouted as he drew the mud-caked DuneRail up to the edge of the shelter, "Put that thing down. What sort of welcome is that?"

"What took you so long?" Baines lowered the weapon as Alonzo climbed out of the old familiar DuneRail. "You should have been here yesterday."

"Yeah, sure, you try crossing Gerting Valley this time of year. Geez, I forgot how much I hated that. At least the forest is passable." He tossed off his rain-soaked jacket and sat beside the heater. "Good thing we rigged up those extra thick tires. They worked pretty good on the mud." He pulled off his filthy boots and set them beside the heater. "How did your vehicle work for you?"

Baines laughed, "I gotta tell you, it is nice to drive a new rig." He pointed to the Council's DuneRail, which they had taken from the first search party. He had taken two spider tunnels to move from the New Pacifica area to their old WinterCamp to set up his part of the relay. The drive to this site had taken him over a week. "I am actually kinda glad that we couldn't bring the horses on this one. I forgot how much I liked driving one of these things that was in good working order."

Alonzo rubbed his hands together and said, "I don't know, the old 'Rail has personality. I did kinda miss being on horseback anyway. If it weren't for the fact that we'd have to leave them here untended, I would have preferred to ride Hank." He shifted his position and said, "Well, I guess we'd better be ready to go tomorrow. So what's next on the list?"

"The check list is completed. I didn't have anything else to do while I waited for you," Baines said with a grin. "We're all set to go. We'll call in and let 'em know you made it here. After that, we just gotta wait for the signal from Home Base, then we can take off. I gotta tell you, I can't wait to get flying again."

Alonzo nodded and looked toward the sleek ship. It had once belonged to the alien shape-shifter that had infiltrated their camp. The Advancers had searched for his ship and found it in the Last-Step Mountains. As the alien had said, the ship was almost entirely repaired, except for the damaged computer database. It could fly, but its navigation systems were dead. Worse yet, the controls were not designed for human hands. The solution was simple enough. The Advancers scavenged parts off the Earthship where Devon had once spent three months in coldsleep. It was only once they brought the ship online with the new navigation system that they discovered an interesting capability of the alien's computer, something that would come in handy shortly.

The ship, dubbed "The Sunray", was a conglomeration of alien and human technology. It was a small but highly maneuverable craft, shaped like a plump manta ray. Her first flight was her trial run. The second flight was to create the debris field that was meant to deceive the Council into thinking that Eve's detonated ship was the Colony ship. Then they moved her to this spot to hide her.

Alonzo looked out through the rain at Black-Rock, beside the Upper Morgan River. They had once spent a week here on their way to New Pacifica. A long time ago they had found Morgan here after his plunge into the quick cold river. The dark rock fouled communications, making it impossible to pin-point anything in this area. Only the lowest frequencies could get a clear signal through. The Council could scan this area for all they were worth, and they would never locate the ship unless they stumbled directly upon it.

It was a perfect hiding place. Of course, once they fired up the 'Ray and brought her above the electronic field, they would need something else to hide them. That's where the communication relay would come in handy. Morgan had set up a 'comm-jam,' a wall of interference that would blind all of the communication systems throughout the area. It would be enough to hide them from the Council sensors until they were able to bring the ship into orbit.

Alonzo sighed as he felt the warmth begin to work its way into his sodden clothing. "I hope you are ready for some excitement," he said.

"You know me," Baines said with a laugh, "I'm always at home in space."

Alonzo nodded. It was funny, not that long ago, he would have been in complete agreement with that statement. Now, all he wanted to do was return to his house in Roanoke Colony with his wife and child, and dream about their future. This was just one step in the process of making that come true.

* * * *

Bess sat at the campfire with Amelia on her lap. The five-year-old buried her head against her shoulder. The sun had just set over the high hills that backed New Atlantica, and the sky had yet to grow dark. It was going to be a beautiful clear night.

Amelia sat up so that she could see her mother's face. "Mommy," she said, "Is it raining?"

Bess laughed, "No dear-heart, it's not raining. Why would you ask that?"

Amelia screwed up her face and said, "No Mommy, I mean is it raining at our home?"

"I suppose it is," Bess answered. 

The girl leaned back onto her mother and sighed, "I wish it was raining right here, right now so that it would be more like we were home. Then we could all sit inside the Great House and play games, and Yale could tell us stories."

"You miss our home, don't you?' Bess asked quietly.

"Yeah," she said as she playfully pulled on her mother' hair. "Will we be going back soon?"

"Yes, we'll go back as soon as we can." Bess carefully removed her daughter's hands from her hair and then held her tightly as the sky took on a darker hue for night.

"Mommy, when I'm sleeping tonight," Amelia said confidently, "I'll dream it's raining."

* * * *

Danziger reached the West-to-Landing spider tunnel at dusk. It was the means he had used to travel to this location almost a month ago. Pal stepped nervously as he also remembered the tunnel. 

Danziger climbed off the horse in one easy move and tried to calm the nervous animal, but Pal skipped about and threw his head back.

"It's all right, boy. It's all right." Danziger said soothingly, rubbing his hand along the beast's neck, but Pal would not be calmed. The horse hated traveling through the tunnels, all the animals had hated it. "Come on, Pal. It won't be that bad." Still, Danziger remembered the way Pal would cry and bolt after the tunnel had deposited them at their destination. They had made several journeys through the tunnels that criss-crossed the continent during the past year, and Pal never enjoyed it. 

Danziger frowned slightly. He knew that he could not take the animal with him. There would be no room for noise and panic. He wished there were another way.

John carefully unsaddled the horse, holding tightly to the reins. Pal danced about unhappily, showing the whites of his eyes, lowering his ears. "It's okay, big guy. I'm not going to put you through that. I can't have you giving me away, you know."

He reached up to unfasten the bridle. "You were a wild horse once, you remember?" He pulled the buckskin's head down to his level. "Do you remember?" John recalled the day they had spent in Gerting Valley, herding the wild horses that lived there. He had seen the beautiful male grouped in with several dust-colored mares, and he knew that the horse would be his.

Pal had been fierce during his training, refusing to take a bit or saddle, bucking whenever anyone tried to put their weight on him. John had worked slowly with the wild creature, gaining its trust, trusting it. For the past five years, Pal had been his horse, his friend.

Danziger undid the buckles and pulled the bit and bridle away from the horse's head. Pal backed away a few feet, not quite aware that he had been released. Once he realized that he was no longer bound, he lowered his head and nickered softly to his man.

"Go off now," Danziger said, flicking the empty reins at the horse. Pal stepped out of reach but did not leave. There was a creek not far from the cave, and a scattering of vegetation. It would have to be enough. John looked sadly at the horse that seemed to question him, shaking its head and nickering to him. 

Danziger hauled his equipment into the cave and removed the items he could easily carry. The MagPro he kept in his hand. He glanced back at the horse who hovered nearby, but not too close. "Goodbye, Pal. You've been a good horse. You're free now," Danziger said and stepped into the vortex. The sound of the wind rushing to take the man sent the horse flying into the desert.

* * * *

Alonzo and Baines waited for morning. In the dark of the night, someone might see their ship's trajectory against the black sky. At least with the rain and the clouds they would be quickly hidden during the day. Alonzo yawned and stretched in the chair that had once been part of the Earthship. Shape-shifter chairs did not so easily conform to the hind-ends of humans.

"How much longer?" Baines said, fiddling with the controls before him.

Alonzo glanced at the clock. "Two hours until sunrise. Once the comm-jam starts, we'll be clear to go."

"So, you think this will work?" Baines said.

"Yeah, it should. They won't be able to trace it. Morgan said he'd do it for 30 minutes. That's all the time we have. It should give us enough time to get into orbit and positioned behind the moon."

Baines ran his hand along the control panel. "It couldn't happen too soon for me."

* * * *

Morning was almost over when Morgan reset the controls on the comm system, shutting down the comm-jam, and tuned back into the Great House monitoring systems. He picked up the signal immediately.

"Hey!" Raddison said. "We're back on line." 

Vance walked over to his position and glanced over the systems. "Have you found the source of the interference?"

Raddison shook his head. "I don't know. It seems to have gone as quickly as it came. It lasted for about 30 minutes or so."

LaSalle added helpfully, "Grand would know how to trace it. Maybe you should call him back."

Vance did not reply to the comment, instead she spoke to Raddison, "Check in with the search parties. See how they're doing." Then she turned to LaSalle, "See if you can manage to make contact with our ship. Find out if they have any idea what caused the communication problems."

Morgan was able to tap into LaSalle's transmission to the Council Ship. Lt. Governor Parkins answered the call. Parkins looked bored and asked many questions, but LaSalle was reluctant to answer any. LaSalle was able to ascertain that the Lt. Governor had no idea what caused the interference. Parkins demanded that LaSalle find the source and she responded that they were already working on it.

Devon looked about the comm tent. Morgan, Yale and Magus were all listening in with her. "Alonzo and Baines must have gotten out unnoticed," she said. 

Raddison's conversation with Bower provided them with the information that his group was exploring to the east of Roanoke. They had stopped and had broken into teams to search the area on foot. Bower and Grand were walking along the high wall that formed the lower reaches of the Last-Step Mountains. Cecil and Orvis, the guards, were near their DuneRail.

The aide was unable to make contact with Trimble's team.

* * * *

Lieutenant Trimble did his best to find a comfortable position. He ended up half falling onto the guard beside him, who elbowed him back into the wall. 

Danziger smiled at his predicament. "You see," he said slowly, "you won't be able to escape. I have learned a thing or two about tying knots."

"You won't get away with this!" Trimble replied sharply. "Do you have any idea who we are?"

"You are one of the folks that is trying to ruin our lives," Danziger replied. "You are the reason that I don't have a home right now." 

"Release us immediately!" The young lieutenant glared at the mechanic. "Governor Vance will not stand for this." He tried to sit up straight, but only managed to fall onto the lap of the guard on the other side of him.

"Don't move around so much," Danziger said thoughtfully. "You'll just make the ropes tighter." He moved a short distance along the rock-face until he stood outside of the small enclosure, in the falling rain. Around the foothills of the Last-Step Mountains there were dozens of these narrow canyons that provided an excellent place for hiding people. He carefully checked to ensure that the restrained guards remained hidden from any casual observer.

"Knock it off," said Reno, the unlucky guard with the struggling Trimble in his lap. "He'll only make things harder for us."

"This is inexcusable!" Trimble said, nearly apoplectic, but looking ridiculous because he said the words into Reno's lap. "We are Council Guards! This man is a savage!"

"Yeah," Reno said, "And he caught four of us with one MagPro." Reno sat relatively still and was the least encumbered of the four due to his stillness. The ropes had not tightened on his hands as they had on the rest. His hat had slid down rakishly over one eye, and he wiggled his eyebrows in an attempt to move it up his forehead. 

Danziger regarded the capture of the four men with some pride. He had tuned into their GEAR frequency and merely waited until they revealed their position. He found a convenient hiding place and ambushed them. The guards were totally unprepared for him and it didn't take much to confuse and disarm them. "Now," Danziger thought, "I have one less barrier standing in my way of ridding this planet of Governor Vance and her Council."

He did not have much of a plan, he only wanted to get close enough to Vance and the rest to make them leave. He would have to make it up as he went along. Devon's plan to simply annoy the Council into leaving had not worked. Her current plan to take the Council's ship was flawed. What if Baines and Alonzo could not board their ship? What if they were taken captive?

Still, when the ship was taken, and Alonzo and Baines had control, he wanted to be ready to strike at the Council members who held their home. Only once Roanoke was theirs again could he feel right returning to Devon, True and the others.

* * * *

True woke up and yawned. "Dang it," she said sharply as she sat up. Amelia and Sarah were cuddled together beside her. She only meant to lay down with them until they fell asleep. She hadn't meant to drift off with them. She was supposed to be babysitting. She looked across the Martin tent to hand carved crib. One-year-old Jenny was sprawled out across it, almost too big now to fit. Then she glanced over to the other cot where Hugh slept in a pile of blankets, with his hind-end in the air. 

"Robbie?" she said tentatively, looking around the small area. She got down on her hands and knees and looked under the cots. "Robbie?" She moved quickly through the tent, looking into every place that a two-year-old boy could hide, "Roberto Mazatl Denner Junior where are you?" There was no response beyond the snorting sleep of the four children. 

She nervously stepped outside the tent and glanced around. She could see Cameron and Denner near the horse field. Bess was talking to Mazatl in front of the cooking area. Devon, Uly and Julia were walking toward the beach. Then she saw Pooh. She stumbled out of the tent and toward the caves, where she picked up the tattered stuffed bear. It had been made from rags and dyed to vaguely resemble the renowned bear, and was well loved by Robbie. And here it was, at the mouth of the caves. 

She ducked into the first cave, where Yale was sitting across from Ed the Grendler. At the back of the cave the captives, the four members of the Council Guard, were gambling. Yale looked up when she entered, "Hello True, is there anything we can do for you?"

"Ah, no," True answered, her eyes sweeping the uncluttered cave. "I was just looking for something." 

"Perhaps you would like to sit and talk for a while if you are not busy. Ed was telling me about how he met Agnes. It's quite a love-story. She'll be back with Ted tomorrow."

Ed the Grendler threw his head back and grunted. 

Captain Simmons stepped away from his fellow captives and approached them. "I will again demand that you remove that beast from this vicinity." He spoke to True, pointing at the Grendler.

"Ah," True said, "I don't think you get to have a say in this, does he Yale?" She felt strange having the man talk to her instead of Yale.

Yale just shrugged and said, "He believes that neither Ed nor I is capable of comprehending his conversation."

"This is an unacceptable situation. I have stood for this too long. You have confined me with a disgusting beast and a cyborg." Simmons glared at her through the bars. "This must end."

True returned the glare of the Council Captain. "Well, you'd better learn to live with it, cause they are the best we got." 

"You know that it is my duty to escape," Simmons said.

True looked to the bars of the cell and back at Simmons. "Well, that shouldn't be too easy." She turned to Yale and Ed and said. "I gotta go. I'll see you later, okay?" and she hurried out of the cave.

The next cave was a spider-tunnel that led directly back to Roanoke Colony. She looked into it briefly, but saw nothing but webs and spiders.

She moved quickly, ducking in and out of the tents that made up their temporary home in New Atlantica. She found Morgan in the communications tent, as usual, too busy tapping into the Council computers to notice her. Stan the spider stood up on his impossibly long legs and surveyed her appearance, but then sat down again to watch Morgan work. Magus and Walman were also too busy in their tent to see her quickly peek in, and blushingly move away. 

She made a quick circuit and returned to the caves. "Damn it!" she muttered.

She remembered how Mazatl had painstakingly told Robbie about how the spider-tunnels were used, and how much Robbie loved his trip through them. Robbie had clapped and laughed and said, "Do it again!" He would ask almost every day if he could take another ride. 

"Zero!" True grabbed the mechanical worker as he strode through the camp and dragged him to the Martin Tent. "Have you seen Robbie?"

"Yes, Miss Danziger. I have seen Roberto Junior many times. He is the child of Elisha Denner and Roberto Mazatl Denner. He lives with his parents in..."

"I mean today, I mean within the last hour or so. Have you seen Robbie?"

"No Miss Danziger. I have not seen Roberto Junior within the last 'hour-or-so'."

True stomped her foot in frustration, tucking Pooh under his arm. "Zero, I need you to do me a favor."

"Of course Miss Danziger. I am programmed to assist human beings in all endeavors."

"I need you to keep an eye on the rest of the kids for a little while."

Zero paused, lights flickering throughout his exposed cranium. "I have not been programmed in child rearing."

"I am not asking you to rear anything," True hissed. "I just need you to keep an eye on them. They are all sleeping. Just keep them in the tent. Don't let them out, okay?"

Zero moved to the tent and adjusted his optics so that he could survey the situation. "I am capable of watching children that are asleep," he concluded.

"Good," True said and moved toward the spider cave, "And don't tell anyone about this, okay?" 

"I am programmed to provide accurate information to all questions." Zero responded.

"Then just don't SAY anything, okay? I will be back in a minute and no one needs to know anything."

"To what information are you referring? What is it that they will need to know?" Zero queried. "Please explain."

True sighed and walked back to the robot, "Just watch the kids. Keep 'em in the tent and I will be back before you know it." She shoved the stuffed bear into the robot's arms.

She turned again toward the cave and Zero tried to reflect upon what she said, but was unable to understand how she could possibly return before he was aware of her departure. He could observe her leaving at that very moment. Her logic was flawed. He turned back toward the open tent and moved inside. He surveyed the sleeping children again and decided that it would be best if they remained in that state. He adjusted his optics to look at the toy bear in his arms. He considered setting it down, but decided it might as well stay where it was.

* * * *

First came that unnatural whooshing sound, then it was as if someone planted a foot in the middle of her back and gave her one tremendous shove. She flew through space, through the Trans-Coastal spider-tunnel. For a moment or two she felt weightless. She landed on her face.

True coughed and dusted herself off, as she carefully looked about in the dark cave. "Robbie?" she called softly. "Robbie?" She straightened slowly and moved toward the cave's opening. She was only about three klicks from Roanoke Colony right now, three klicks away from where Mayland Vance and her Council Guard held their home. If they found the boy, everything would be lost.

True climbed out of the mouth of the cave, staying low. The cave was on a ledge, on the rocky foothills of the Last-Step Mountains. It was raining, reducing visibility beyond the cave. Such a strange thing to see because only a moment ago she stood in sunlight. She wondered if Robbie would leave the dry cave for the wet outdoors. He was born in Roanoke Colony and grew up with the rainy autumn. His father would often take him to The Perch, and the two of them would sit for hours in all weather. True sighed again and started out into the rain.

There was a proper procedure for using the tunnel, because it was so easy to disrupt. The spiders rarely left their own webs. But if someone were to brush against the web, it was always possible to carry a spider along with you. Part of the process was to carefully check your clothing before you entered the 'launching area' of the cave. Unfortunately, True was distracted and forget this step. She did not see the little spider that was picked up by her jacket, and did not notice as it jumped onto a nearby rock when she reached the western end of the tunnel. 

The spider wasn't happy. It did not like being among its polar-cousins. It wandered around on the rock, confused and disoriented. It wanted to return home, and would effectively shut down the tunnel until it was able to do exactly that.

* * * *

Bess laughed. "Stop, stop!" she said, "You chopped too many onions! Mazatl, what are we going to do with all of these?"

Mazatl shrugged and set down the knife. He had become fairly proficient using his left hand for most of his work, since his right hand had never regained its full use. "I thought you wanted me to cut all of them," he said.

Bess wiped the tears from her eyes, "We have more onions than we'll know what to do with. How can you stand it? It hurts my eyes just to stand here."

"Strong eyes," he said simply, then he bent down to pick up his son, who was playing in a crate near his feet. "Robbie has strong eyes too." He held the boy up to eye level and stared at his clear brown eyes. 

* * * *

True made her way along the ledge, staring out into the rain. There had been no sign of the boy. She was about to give up and return to the camp when she spotted something at the base of the hill. She continued to make her way along the ledge, her heart pounding. For a moment, she thought it was a body, but it was much too big to be a toddler. 

She should have gone back, but her curiosity kept her moving. It was only once she was directly above the object that she realized that it was indeed human, a man in a dark suit, made even darker by the falling rain. 

She crouched, breathless on the ledge, looking downward for any sign of movement, but the man below remained still. He lay on his stomach, his head slightly turned and his hands near his ears, as if listening to the ground, the rain pattering around him. 

An alarm went off in her head, a shrill sense of danger, like a note played high and long on a violin. "He may be hurt," she said to herself. "Maybe he needs my help." She looked back to the cave, a good hundred meters away, and thought about going back. Instead, she started down the hillside toward the man. 

She was soaked to the skin by the time she made her way to the listening man. "Hello?" she said softly, "Hello?" Only the sound of the rain answered her. She walked around him slowly until she could see the half-turned face. It was only then that she recognized him from the surveillance devices. It was the Council Liaison, Nathan Grand. She stepped back in alarm, sucking her breath, and backing against the hillside, but he made no movement.

She approached him again, slowly. His face was still, his eyes open and unseeing. She bent down to him and touched him on the shoulder then slowly rolled him over on his back. There was no resistance, there was nothing left to resist. She gasped again, looking down at those open glassy eyes. The man was dead. 

She looked upward to the ledge where she had stood moments ago. Higher up, another stone ledge jutted out. He must have fallen from there. She looked down at him again, remembering that he was one of the Council, someone to be feared and detested. Now he was nothing but a body in the rain.

She knelt down beside him and pulled his splayed coat close to him, as if to keep him warm. Why was he on the ledge, out here in the rain, without any sign of transportation? She looked up again. Why was he alone?

"So," a voice suddenly cut through the white noise of the rain. True leapt to her feet and spun to meet the voice. Jim Bower, bodyguard to Governor Mayland Vance, grinned at her, showing his sharp white teeth. "What have we here? Isn't this just grand?"

* * * *

"Devon!" Morgan yelled, hobbling out of the communications tent. "DEVON!" he shouted again. 

Mazatl and Bess were nearest, and came running, "What's the matter, Morgan?" Bess asked.

"Where the hell is Devon?" he said again. 

Mazatl lifted Robbie to his shoulders, "She went down to the beach."

"Get her now. The Council has True."

Bess stood with her mouth agape as Mazatl sped down toward the beach, with Robbie holding on for dear life. "True was watching the kids," she said and then she ran to their tent. Morgan headed after her, as fast as he could with his cane.

He reached the tent several moments after his wife and looked around frantically at the sleeping children. "What happened?" He looked to Zero, who stood to one side, trying to be unnoticed, a bear clutched in his mechanical hands. "What happened?" Morgan demanded.

Zero divided his attention between the two adults. He couldn't help but realize that True Danziger did not live up to her promise and return before he had time to notice.

Bess had gathered up three sleepy girls in her lap, while Hugh stretched and considered the commotion. Julia entered suddenly, almost pushing Morgan to the ground. Luckily Zero was in the way and stopped his fall. She scooped up Hugh and looked at frantically to Morgan, "What do you mean the Council has True? How could they possibly have her?"

Devon entered with Uly, Mazatl and Robbie. "What's going on Morgan?" Devon demanded, as Denner and Cameron poked their heads in as well to see what the commotion was all about.

Morgan pointed to his GEAR, "I just picked up the transmission. They got True over by the Trans-Coastal Tunnel. They're accusing her of murdering Nathan Grand."

The group in the tent exchanged frightened and surprised glances. Zero remained silent and hoped that nobody asked him any questions.

* * * *

John Danziger had been listening to the transmissions as well. He went into motion immediately. He quickly checked the ropes that held the guards captive. Trimble had to be straightened up again. Reno looked chagrined about the whole situation. The other two guards, Lender and Farrow, looked as if they wanted to tear Danziger's throat out. 

The little covered area was only a few kilometers from Roanoke. They were far enough from the rest of the Council so that these four would not be easily found. Even if they shouted, their voices would not carry far in this area. He had no time to find a better place; he had to act now.

Danziger stood and regarded them for a minute. "Stay quiet and you stay alive," he said, as he picked up his MagPro and headed for their DuneRail.

"You can't do this!" Trimble said, struggling again and becoming dangerously close to falling onto Reno once more. "What about those animals, those Grendler things and those Killers. What are we supposed to do?"

Danziger didn't answer. Instead, he threw a few scattered supplies into the cargo hold of the guards' vehicle and started it up. In a second, he had turned it away from his prisoners, out of the enclosure and into the rain. He kept his GEAR tuned to the frequency that Morgan had specified, the frequency that the Council used for their transmissions. 

This changed everything. He had planned to find the search parties, immobilize them, and then go for Vance. He would now have to find Bower's team before he was prepared.

"If they harm True... " he said under his breath, feeling a panic rise in him. "If they do anything to hurt her..." The DuneRail responded to his command and he headed toward Roanoke. 

* * * *

Baines was enjoying the view of space, nothing but stars and moonscape. They had landed on the far-side of the Lesser Moon, where the Council Ship could not detect their presence. A monitoring device on the near-side of the Lesser Moon allowed them to keep in touch with the planet and the Council Ship, without being monitored themselves.

The Council's ship was an impressive piece of machinery, looking more like a dreadnought than necessary. Once they received the signal from New Atlantica, they would move in and attempt to board the ship. It should be easy enough once another comm-jam was set in motion, the dreadnought would be more or less blind. It had hardly any view-ports, relying almost completely on their sensors. The Sunray would only need to sidle up beside it and find an available docking port.

The Sunray, once the property of a shape-shifter, had its own chameleon-like abilities. Once it linked with another computer system, it could blend immediately into it, and disguise itself as part of that system. Once they docked, the dreadnought would not be able to sense their presence. 

Baines, growing a little bored with the wait, tuned to the Council's communication system for some entertainment. "Ah, 'Lonz," Baines said, turning to the pilot. "We got problems."

Alonzo, sitting at the controls of their ship, looked up. "What's up?" he asked. 

"The Council has captured True," Baines said dully. Alonzo said nothing. He continued to work at the keyboards. Baines continued, "What do we do now?"

"We gotta get that ship." Alonzo said. "Now more than ever. We gotta cut the Council off from that ship. It's where their power lies." He glanced over at Baines. "The comm-jam is supposed to start in one hour. Get ready."

* * * *

"What are we going to do?" Magus asked, "We have to get her out of there."

"Currently, we cannot follow her to New Pacifica." Yale said, "The spider-tunnel is unbalanced. We must wait for the return of the New Atlantica spider before we can use that mode of transportation."

"How the hell did that happen? True knows how to follow procedure. Wasn't she paying any attention?" Walman growled. "What the hell was she doing over there anyway? She didn't even bother to tell us what she was up to?" Walman turned to Zero. "Are you sure she didn't tell you anything else?" he said to the mechanical worker.

"I have related the entire conversation," Zero responded. "I could invent further dialog if that is required."

Yale shook his head. "It would appear that she was looking for Roberto and she thought that he made use of the spider-tunnel. She followed him."

"Robbie wouldn't do that," Denner said defensively. "He's a good boy. He does what he's told."

"I'm a good boy!" Robbie agreed, shaking his Pooh Bear at Zero.

"That doesn't matter," Bess responded. "What matters is that the Council has True and we can't get to her. What are we going to do?" 

Devon stared at the far wall of the tent. This wasn't supposed to happen. Everything was moving so smoothly. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wished John was with her. She could use his straight-forward thinking right now. She felt that familiar pain of his absence. Why wouldn't he return to them?

"We're going to have to come up with a new plan," she replied.

* * * *

Danziger moved quietly along the hillside. The rain splattered on his shoulders and across his head as he positioned himself. He could hear the DuneRail approach. He pulled the MagPro into position and readied himself for its appearance. When the small vehicle rounded the turn, he aimed and fired. The driver, a young member of the Guard named Cecil, screamed and crumbled to his side. The 'Rail turned as its driver fell. Orvis, sitting beside him twisted around in terror and was cut down as well. The third shot would be difficult; Danziger would have to aim past True to hit the Council Mechanic.

Bower wasn't going to let that happen. He pulled the girl close to him and fired at the exposed Advancer mechanic. Danziger gasped as the energy bolt struck his shoulder and spun him backward. He hit the ground hard and lost his grip on the MagPro. It clattered out of reach. 

Bower had used a Taser-Rifle; Danziger could feel his right side going numb. He tried to flop over onto his stomach to reach the MagPro, but Bower reached the weapon first. He picked up the still humming device and pointed it at Danziger's head. "Well, well, well," Bower said. "Another surprise." He grinned down at Danziger, unaffected by the precipitation. "Funny how you people seem to keep popping up."

"Let her go!" John said with some effort. "Take me, but let her go." He could see True in the back seat of the DuneRail, struggling against some sort of restraints.

"Dad!" she shouted, pulling hard at the cuffs that held her to her seat. "Dad!"

"A family reunion. How charming," Bower muttered. He pulled on his GEAR, never taking his eyes off of the mechanic, but before he started the communication, he squatted down and glared at Danziger. "How did you know I would be here?" he asked darkly. "How did you know I had the girl?" He fingered the sides of his GEAR, watching Danziger's face. 

"Grand was a fool," he said at last. "He thought our communication system was secure." He spat on the ground near Danziger's head. "Grand destroyed this mission. He cheerfully uploaded every file you fed him. If you ask me, I would say that our entire computer system has been compromised. Grand just stood there and let it happen. Your girl did us a great service by killing the idiot."

He gestured with the MagPro. "Get in the vehicle." Danziger glowered at him but did not move. Bower just smiled and walked around the prone man. Without warning, he kicked Danziger forcefully in his left side.

Danziger gasped in pain and collapsed onto the wet ground. True screamed from her seat, "Leave him alone! Daddy, get up. Please, get in the 'Rail. Don't hurt him."

Danziger drew his left leg up under him and painstakingly moved his numb right leg up beside it. He wavered on hands and knees for a moment too long, and Bower kicked him down again. "Enough of this crap! Get in the vehicle and get in now!"

Danziger staggered in a daze, making his way to his daughter and the Council's DuneRail. When he reached the vehicle's side, he leaned heavily against it and looked to True. Her face was streaked with tears, her head wet with the rain. "Daddy, are you okay?" she said weakly. He met her eyes once before Bower struck him again with the Taser-Rifle.

* * * *

"Have you received any further transmissions?" Devon asked as she paced around the comm-tent.

Morgan sighed loudly, "You've been in here the whole time. You would know just as soon as I do." He was fiddling with the controls, searching for any active bands. "There hasn't been anything since Bower's last message."

"No news is good news." Devon said under her breath.

"Huh?" Morgan bobbed his head up, "What?"

"I said, 'no news is good news.'" 

Morgan clucked his tongue and continued adjusting the controls, "Not when you're dealing with these kinda folks." Devon looked at him sharply, and Morgan continued, "They follow protocol. Transmissions are like clockwork. I've got nothing for the past half-hour. If they were bringing in a prisoner I would have expected updates every fifteen minutes."

"Maybe they're too busy," Devon said hopefully.

Morgan shook his head. "Okay, let's say Bower is too busy to report in. Mayland Vance would have checked in with them by now. There must have been a code word in that last transmission, letting Vance know that something was up "

"So what do you think this means?" Devon asked

Morgan shrugged. "Something's wrong," he answered, and he returned to his work.

* * * *

Danziger awoke slowly and painfully. His whole body was tingling with the return of sensation. He tried to move his arms, but found they were restrained. He opened his eyes and faced his captors.

"He's up." Bower said, "It's been less than an hour since I hit him. He's a fighter." He was leaning against the wall to Danziger's left. He held the Taser-Rifle loosely in his hand.

Mayland Vance suddenly entered his vision, and he sat up slowly until his back was flat against the back of the chair. "John Danziger," she said as she approached him. "I am so glad you could join us."

"Yeah," he returned, "I woulda been here sooner, but I was detained."

Bower laughed and Vance cocked her head at him. "Mr. Danziger, do you think this is an appropriate time for that sort of talk? Do you understand who is in charge here?"

Danziger shook his head to rid himself of the terrible groggy feeling. His mouth was dry and his head was muddled. 

"What I need to understand is this:" Mayland moved to his right side and spoke into his ear, "Who gave you the right to murder my guards and to set your daughter against my liaison?"

"True would never..." Danziger drew his head up sharply and turned to face the Governor. 

"Nathan Grand was a married man. Who shall deliver the news to his widow?" She moved until she was facing him. "Your daughter killed a very important member of my staff, a vital member."

"Never!" Danziger spat out. "She would never..."

"She pushed him off a cliff. He was unarmed, harmless. Who gave her the right to kill a helpless man?"

Danziger strained at his bonds and Bower leveled the Taser at him again. John stopped when he saw the weapon pointed in his direction. "You got it all wrong. True could never harm anyone. You got the wrong person."

"Mr. Bower will confirm that he witnessed the murder." Her eyes drifted over to the bodyguard. "There is physical evidence on the body to support the accusation. True Danziger is guilty of murder. You personally have killed two of my people. It takes little imagination to realize what has become of my initial search party. And there is the matter of another party that has not reported in. Do you think I would continue to allow this? Did you think you could get away with murder? Did you think your little daughter could get away with murder just because she is so damn charming?"

"Don't hurt her!" Danziger said through his teeth. "She's done nothing wrong."

"In your eyes, perhaps," Vance said, walking slowly around him. "In my eyes, a man is dead. Someone will have to pay."

"I'll pay," Danziger replied. 

Vance smiled wistfully, "But what would the fun be in that?"

"Let her go!"

"Tell me, Mr. Danziger. Where are they? There were eight Advancers who disappeared into the night without a trace. Now two more pop up. How many more of you are there? Tell me, Mr. Danziger. Where are they hiding?"

"I'm not saying anything!"

Vance nodded sharply to Raddison, who opened the door. Two of the guard entered the room with True between them. "I think I may have a way of getting you to tell me something," Vance said, offhandedly.

"Dad, don't!" True shouted, before Vance jerked her head around and ordered the guards to leave the room with their captive. As she was pulled out of the room, Danziger could see the tall pilot peering into the room at Bower. For a moment the pilot's eyes met the bodyguard's. There was accusation in that glance, and then the door was slammed shut.

"We have many ways of making life difficult for her," Vance said slowly. "When would you like us to start."

Danziger looked at Vance, his eyes glowing like coals. "I'll show you where they are," he finally said.

"You will draw Mr. Bower a map."

"I have to show you. There is no other way."

"Do you think I am stupid, Mr. Danziger?"

"Untie me, and I'll prove to you that I am willing to help you."

Bower growled, but Vance took the Taser from him. "Untie him, Mr. Bower." She looked again to Danziger and said, "Don't think that I wouldn't use this while Mr. Bower is in the way. If you make any unnecessary moves, you will both go down."

Bower roughly removed the restraints, and quickly stepped out of the way. Danziger rubbed his wrists and said, "If I help you, you'll let True go. She won't be hurt."

"If I get what I want, then I will decide what to do next," Vance replied. "Now, you said that you would prove to me that you were willing to help."

Danziger nodded and put his hands up, reaching into the rafters. Vance leveled the Taser and Bower pulled his laser pistol off his belt. Danziger quickly popped something off of the littered rafter and held it out, open palmed.

Bower squinted at the item, a small electronic device. "What is it?"

It was LaSalle that recognized it. "It's the optic from a GEAR set. It's a surveillance device," She said under her breath, and then turned to Raddison. The two of them jumped to their computers. 

Vance snatched the device out of Danziger's hand, while Bower pressed him back into the seat, replacing the restraints. "Trace it!" she screamed at the aides. "Trace those stinking bastards back to their home!"

* * * *

"Damn it! Disconnect! Get out! Get out! Get out!" Morgan cried, mostly to himself, as he flicked switches, pounded on keyboards, disconnected lines and unhooked half the computer system. He was breathless and his GEAR askew by the time he was done. Stanley was standing on his tip-toes, his coarse hairs bristling.

Cameron watched, wide eyed. "Did you get out fast enough? They didn't trace you?" 

"Morgan, honey, they didn't catch you, did they?" Bess said tentatively.

Morgan was still trying to catch his breath. "I think I got out in time. They didn't have time to figure out which band I was using. Now they know."

"Why the hell did he do that?'' Magus asked, "What is he thinking?"

"Danziger..." Morgan muttered.

Devon stood, dry-eyed, her GEAR still in place. "No, no no..." she said softly to herself. "Not again..." 

Magus looked around at the others. "We have to get ready in case he leads them here. They've got that shuttle. We have to protect ourselves."

"What about True?" Cameron put in, "We gotta come up with a plan." 

"Hold it right there," a strange voice suddenly called from behind them. Devon turned to look into the eyes of Captain Simmons as he leveled his laser-rifle at her. "I think I may have something to say about those plans."

* * * *

"Well?" Bower said, leaning heavily over LaSalle's shoulder as she worked. "Where are they?" 

"There it is," Raddison said, pointing to his monitor. "That's the one they were using."

Vance glared at the undecipherable mess on the screen. "Trace it. I want to know where the hell they are."

"Ah," Raddison started and looked to LaSalle for support, "I didn't have time to trace it."

"We couldn't even tell which frequency they were using until they discontinued the signal," LaSalle said, trying to be helpful. "But we would have found them if we'd had a few more seconds. They disconnected too quickly."

Vance placed one hand on each of her aide's heads. "Explain this to me. How was it that they were using a recognizable frequency to monitor these devices and nobody noticed until they stopped using it?"

Raddison and LaSalle looked at each other. Alison LaSalle spoke, her voice trembling slightly, "Because it was probably always there. It was so constant we probably just thought it was background noise."

"Probably thought..." Vance said, walking slowly away from her aides and back to the restrained John Danziger. "So you have been privy to our every discussion. Mr. Bower thinks that you were able to cut into our communication systems. Maybe you have even cracked your way into our computer systems. How much do you know, Mr. Danziger?"

Danziger laughed, "Me? I know nothing. I can tell you where they are though. If you free my daughter, I can tell you everything."

Vance brought her face within inches of his. "You know I can't do that. But you have shown me something interesting. For that I am grateful. But it's not enough."

"I will show you where they are. There's a trick to getting there. I have to be there to show you. Just don't hurt True."

"Bower, take Hawking and Tulmey and find out what Mr. Danziger wants to show us."

Bower nodded and said, "There are at least eight more of them, maybe a lot more." He nodded sharply at the aides. "We could use a few more hands."

Vance looked at her trembling aides and said, "Raddison, you're with me. We'll take the second DuneRail. LaSalle, you will examine every single frequency on the spectrum. They will not make contact with our system again without a trace on them."

Raddison stood up slowly, "What about the girl? Who's going to watch the girl?"

Vance frowned for a moment and then turned to Bower. "Get her into the shuttle. I don't trust locking her up in any of these buildings. Who knows what other surprises they have hidden here. We'll put Alex to some good use. He can keep an eye on the girl." Bower left the room, then Vance looked at Danziger, "So, are you ready to go?"

"I need your word that True will not be harmed in any way."

"As long as you take us to the others, she will remain relatively safe."

"I want to see her again." 

"You are in no position to ask for favors." Still, she gestured to the window. Danziger was able to turn just enough to see his daughter marched across the wet compound between their two remaining guards. The fair-haired pilot followed behind, his head slightly ducked against the rain. "If you help us, we will help you." Vance said. 

Danziger watched through the window until True disappeared from his sight into the rain, which fell like a curtain around her.

****

THE END of The Rain - Like a Curtain Falls

To be continued in The Sun - When it Rose 

* * *

  
_Okay, I know what you are saying... how could I just leave it there? Well, read the next story. _

[Comments Welcome][1]

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



	12. The Sun, When it Rose

__

Okay, If you read my earlier stories when they first came out, you may come to a point in this story where you say "HEY! You changed something! You said something completely different before!" Well, you know, you are right. I changed one little bitty insignificant thing that makes all the difference here. Live with it. Of course if you have read the stories more recently, you won't know what I am talking about because I already changed that little thing. Of course, if you have a bad memory, you won't notice either.

This story is based on the TV show, Earth2, and as I have said before, I am not trying to infringe on anyone. Give girl a break! This story takes place immediately after my last one "The Rain - Like a Curtain Falls" and is the last part of my supposed 'trilogy' "The Moons, the Stars, the Rain and the Sun." You see, the Rain and the Sun were originally one story, but I split them in two. Does that make sense now? I hope so. Carry on.

* * *

****

The Sun - When it Rose

__

"The Moons, the Stars, the Rain and the Sun"

The Martin girls cried and huddled onto their mother's lap, while their father tried to reassure them. Denner held the two boys, but Hugh struggled against her, searching for his mother. 

Julia knelt over Yale and carefully examined him in the dim light while Magus hovered over them. The tutor looked as if he had fallen asleep, save for the trickle of blood that ran down the back of his head. Cameron was binding a gash on Walman's shoulder while Mazatl tore his own linen shirt into strips to act as a bandage.

"They just came at me," Walman was saying. "I couldn't do anything to stop them. Shit, I shoulda been paying more attention when I brought their lunch." He shook his head violently, and tired to tug his arm out of Cameron's grip, but the biologist-turned-medic wouldn't let go. Walman looked toward Uly and said, "It's my fault."

Uly pressed himself against the bars and tried to see into the dark corner, where a Grendler lay slumped and formless.

Devon stood defiantly at the locked cell door and glared through the bars at Captain Simmons. "Why?" she demanded, "why did you have to do this?"

"It is our duty to escape. I have told you that before," Simmons said simply. He walked over to the body of the Grendler and wrinkled his nose at the offensive smell. "I have been meaning to do that for some time."

"He has a family!" Uly shouted, "He's got a kid! How could you just kill him?"

Simmons shook his head. "That is an animal. Your cyborg is little better than an animal. There was little other harm done."

Julia stormed to the bars. "You killed Ed. You may have killed Yale! Look at him! If the connections to his implants have been severed, I won't be able to repair them."****She looked over to Walman, who grimaced as Cameron secured the bandage. "Look at what you've done."

"You brought this down on yourselves," Simmons answered civilly.

Devon stepped closer to Uly, who was openly weeping. She put a protective arm around her son. "They killed him," he moaned. "He was my friend and they just killed him." He shook his head sadly, "What are we going to tell Agnes? What about Ted?" 

"They were wrong to do this, Uly," Devon said, not knowing what else to say. "And they will pay for it."

Simmons smirked. "You people think an awful lot of yourselves." 

Uly broke away from his mother suddenly to stand beside Julia. "Is Yale going to be okay?" Uly asked quietly.

Julia did not look at the boy. "I don't know, Uly," she answered truthfully. Yale's face was still and ashen, his breathing shallow. He had been hit in the head near his electronic implant and Julia knew there must be internal damage. If she only had her DiaGlove she might be able to help. Without it she was powerless.****

All she could do was hope that she was wrong about his injury, that she was completely wrong and that he would recover. She released Yale's wrist and held onto his unresponding hand. "Hang in there, Yale," she said quietly. "Please, just hang in there."

The others in the cell looked on silently. It seemed impossible that Yale could be hurt. He was such a strong figure among them. It seemed terribly wrong for him to be lying so insensible. He was always the strong one, ever present and stoic. It seemed terribly wrong for him to be lying there so... human.

Walman spoke aloud again, "They just all came rushing out at me. I didn't have time to react. They just attacked."

Cameron patted Walman congenially on his good shoulder, but Walman shook him off. Devon said, "It could have been any of us. They were just waiting for the right moment."

"Screw it!" Walman said, "I shouldn't have let it happen."

Magus sat down beside her husband and gave him a peck on the cheek and said, "You just calm down for a while, and let Cameron get you patched up right. " Then, to change the subject, she turned to the others, and said, "I don't understand it. Why did Danz give us away? How could he do that? I never believed all that stuff about him betraying us. How could he go and do it anyway?"

"Do you really think he did?" Denner said softly, "I think he was up to something. He'd never just turn us in to the Council."

"Never," Devon said quietly, "Never." More than ever, she wished John were with her. She wanted to feel his resolute arm around her. She wanted to whisper in his ear that she trusted him, even now. She wanted to hold him and let him know that she trusted him.

The guard named Rodriguez entered the cave, stepping discretely away from Ed's body. "We can't get it running," Rodriguez said lowly.

Simmons looked back at the occupants of the cell. It had been a relatively comfortable space for the four guards. With sixteen people crowded in, it was rather oppressive. He pointed at Morgan. "You, Liaison, get out here now."

Morgan looked up sheepishly. "What? What do you want?" 

"We need that communication system operational. Apparently we can't use that tunnel of yours, so this is the only way we can contact our Governor and report your capture. You are the one who's going to get it running again."

Morgan looked around at the others in the cave. "But ..." he caught Devon's eye. "What if I refuse?" he squeaked.

Simmons shrugged, "Then we will start killing your friends here one at a time. If you feel it is necessary to work slowly and inefficiently, we have ways of making you speed things up a bit." 

Devon regarded Simmons and spoke to Morgan, "Do what they ask, Morgan."

Morgan nodded numbly, and stood. He made a movement away from his family and then turned and kissed each of his daughters and then his wife. "It'll be okay," Bess said reassuringly. "Just do what they say."

"I love you," Morgan whispered softly to her. "I just wanted you to know."

Bess smiled, "I've always known that."

Morgan limped across the crowded room and waited for the guard to unfasten the gate. They held their weapons level at the others as Rodriguez let Morgan through. "I'll need my cane," Morgan said. "I can't walk that far without it." 

"You'll manage it," Simmons said. "I don't feel like arming my prisoners with any sort of weapon just yet."

"Give him his godddamn cane," Walman said, sitting up. "What's the matter with you?"

Devon pressed her hand against the gate before it swung completely shut. "Let me go too. He can't walk that far without help." She raised her arms. "I'm unarmed."

Simmons sighed, "If it will get him moving, what the hell." The gate was opened again, and Devon walked through before Rodriguez banged it shut.

Simmons left two of the guards to keep an eye on the captives, and took Rodriguez with him. Devon helped Morgan down form the rocky mouth of the cave. Once they were headed to the comm tent Morgan whispered to her, "Do you have anything in mind?"

"No," Devon replied quietly before Rodriguez ordered them into silence.

* * * *

Alonzo and Baines waited. Their ship, the Sunray, nestled on the Lesser Moon, out of sight of the Council Ship. "Still no signal?" Baines asked.

Alonzo drummed on the console and sighed, "They should have made contact by now. They've gotta put up that interference signal. Without it, there is no way of getting close to that ship."

Baines frowned and sat back in his chair. "What do you think happened?"

Alonzo shrugged, "It can't be good. I wish to God I was down there though. We can't do anything up here." He slumped down, resting his chin on his hands and said, "If we don't hear anything within the next hour, I say we go ahead and try to board that ship."

"Without the communication interference, we won't have a chance of getting close to it," Baines replied. "It sounds like a bad idea. We'd better wait until we got some cover."

Alonzo sighed, "I just can't handle this waiting around. I just wish I knew what was going on down there."

* * * * 

True glared at the pilot and the guard as she tested her restraints. Alex remained silent while the guard, Hawking, hovered around the shuttle's main compartment. Finally, after an undeterminable amount of time, the group was ready to leave and Hawking departed with them. The pilot watched from the cockpit until the two remaining Council vehicles disappeared beyond the near hills and then he turned to the girl. Before he could speak, True growled, "If they do anything to hurt my father..." 

"You know where they are?" the pilot asked. "You do know." He spoke with a strange accent. True had heard many of the station accents during her tenure as her father's assistant, but there was something different about the way he spoke, as if he was searching for the correct word to say. "Tell me this. I need to know."

"I don't know where they are," she said roughly. "I am not telling you anything."

The pilot leaned toward her and said, "I saw the sign. I know, I know that you know."

True shook her head. "I am not telling anything, so don't waste your breath." She tugged again and gasped slightly when the tight bands cut a little too deeply into her wrists. She met the pilot's eyes and saw something she hadn't expected. She saw compassion.

"I am sorry." He walked to her chair. "The Council can be quite cruel, I have discovered." He worked at the bands and released them. "Better?" 

She pulled her hands away from the chair arms and rubbed her wrists. True looked at the pilot, dumbfounded. 

He spoke again, "Please, you must tell me. It is all that matters. Where are they? I saw the sign."

"What sign are you talking about?" True said quietly.

The pilot gestured out to the windmill. "The crossbars. I saw them. You put them there, yes? So that I could see them."

True frowned, "I don't understand."

Alex sighed, "The TrailMaker is in the crossbars. From the New Earth Explorers, you know?"

True's mind reeled. These things he referred to were familiar. Suddenly it came to her, the story that Uly had related to them of Anna Gerting. Uly had dreamed of Anna when they had all fallen ill in Gerting Valley, when they had first crossed it during the autumn rains. The New Earth Explorers had landed on this planet over 100 years ago. The Advancers had named half the landmarks between the Last-Step Mountains and the Morgan River after the explorers.

The TrailMaker had been one of the vehicles belonging to the New Earth Explorers. Her father had cannibalized it to get the TransRover running. When the TransRover was dismantled and used to build the windmill, parts of the TrailMaker went with it. And yes, she remembered the long struts that formed the crossbars of the windmill had once belonged to Gerting's TrailMaker.

The pilot nodded, "Yes, you understand. You know. I see it in your eyes." He was suddenly excited, " I knew they would be here yet. I knew they would ... survive. You know them, the children of the children of the New Earth Explorers, yes? They are with you?"

True sat back in her seat and looked into the earnest face of the pilot. She remembered in the story that Anna Gerting had two pilots, Armon Pollin and Alexander Rienhardt. They had been sent back to Earth, on their ship, the Drache, before the disastrous mission fell apart. 

"Alexander Rienhardt..." True said slowly.

The pilot beamed, "Yes! Yes!" He nodded happily, "You know me! I knew they would live. I knew we did not leave them to die. Armon, Armon he said we should not have left them. I was the one who said we were right. Where are they? The children of the children of the children of Anna Gerting?"

"You can't be alive..." True trailed off.

"But I am. Yes, you see." He poked at his chest. "I was in ColdSleep for very long time. They say I broke the record." His gaiety left him and he spoke again, "My friend, my good friend Armon, was not as lucky as I. Armon and I, we together survived to reach Earth. They released us from ColdSleep and asked us many questions. For many days, for weeks, we answered, then they returned us to ColdSleep. So many years passed. And when we were again awakened, only I survived. They said they need me to come here. They said I know secret things about the planet." He laughed lightly, "They do not understand that I never stand on the planet. I came only as close as the moons." He paused and said, "Please, I must know, where are the New Earth Explorers." He waited for a moment. "You do not trust me? Yes, I understand. Do not tell me where they are. Tell me only, The New Earth Explorers they live, yes?"

True met his eyes, and saw not the dull complacency of a Council member, but a lost soul. She always thought there was something unique about him when she saw him on the surveillance system. He moved differently, spoke strangely. He actually took the time to look around. It was wholly possible that he was Alex Rienhardt. "They are gone," True replied.

Alex waited a beat. "Yes, I know. Much time has passed. Tell me now, the...descendents are alive."

True looked into his expectant face. He was trying so hard to draw one response from her. He smiled so brightly. He seemed to have been waiting all this time to simply talk to one of her group, to find out where his friends had gone. "They all died," True responded, feeling a sudden incredible sorrow. "Nobody survived."

Alex sat on his haunches, and let his hands hang loose at his wrists. "But, someone lived... someone to give you the sign on the tower?"

"Please," True stood, "Please, my father is in danger. You must help me."

"But someone did live..." Alex said slowly. 

True knelt down in front of the ancient pilot and said, "I will tell you everything, but you must help me." 

Alex, his face so still it might have been numbed by jelly-fish-jelly, stared out beyond the girl. True grabbed him by the arms and said, "Please, you must do something. You must save my father." 

Alex shook his head abruptly and stood. "Yes, yes of course." He turned as if he planned to go to the cockpit, and then turned again toward the exit and spun back to face the cockpit. After a moment he turned again to face True. "What will we do?"

* * * *

John Danziger pressed his back into the seat and glowered at the guard who faced him. Jim Bower sat beside him, with the Taser-rifle aimed at John's head. The other guard drove the vehicle. Governor Mayland Vance followed behind in a second DuneRail, with her aide driving. The rain splattered against them as they moved across the landscape. The sky was dark, thick with clouds. Danziger looked out at the sky as if hoping to draw ideas from it. He had taken a big risk in revealing the surveillance devise. He was counting on the fact that Morgan was at the controls of the comm system and would be able to shut it down in time. The liaison had not been much help to them during their traveling, but once he had found his niche, he took it quite seriously.

Danziger needed to do something to let the Council know that he was willing to help them. Of course, he realized that the Council would not readily comply, that they would not simply release True. But if he could draw a group of them away from the rest, he might have a chance of taking them captive, as he had Trimble's team. And the other members of Eden Advance were now well aware of what was going on in Roanoke. With the greater part of the Council now on this adventure, the Advancers would certainly rescue True, using the spider-tunnel. He had to trust that they were able to do so.

He shook his head as he realized how stupid he had been. When he attacked the DuneRail, he should have taken out Bower first. If he had done that, he would have had a chance of freeing True and escaping with her through the spider-tunnels. Things had gone horribly wrong.

Danziger had to come up with a plan. He would have to come up with something that would put the whole lot of them out of commission. He vaguely considered bringing them all the way over Cameron's Pass and to cross into Gerting Valley. With any luck they would make it just in time to meet the onslaught of the Sick-Sleep Insects. Of course, timing was everything and there was no telling when exactly they would arrive. It was the only plan he had.

He thought about Devon again. He could only hope that she understood what he had done. She must know that he was not trying to betray them, but save his daughter. She had to realize that he knew they could shut the comm system down before the frequency could be traced. She would know. 

The DuneRail jostled and bumped over the landscape under the influence of the inexperienced driver. The DuneRail became stuck in the rain softened ground, and the driver took several moments to break it free. "I could drive for you," Danziger said, offhand.

"Just show us where to go," Bower growled at him. Danziger shrugged and settled into the seat again.

* * * *

Devon stood in the corner of the tent and watched Morgan as he worked to reconnect the comm system. She wasn't paying much attention to the process. Instead, she was thinking about Danziger again. She shivered as she remembered how he had pulled the surveillance device from the rafters of the Great House. For a moment, his face had filled the screen before he handed the optic away. She replayed the moment in her head, searching that face. 

She wished she could read his mind, could see beyond those eyes, but he had held his face impassive and there was nothing to find in his expression. But she knew. She knew he would not betray them this time, not in this time-line. She only wished she knew what she could do to help him, and True, and save themselves as well.

Simmons leaned against Morgan's shoulder and the liaison turned on him, "Look, can you give me a bit of breathing room here? I can't work in these kinda conditions."

"You'll work," Simmons replied.

Morgan sighed, "Do you think I could get something to drink while I'm working. I could really go for some nice hot tea. Well, what I'd really like is a big ole mug of coffee, but I guess you don't have any on you."

"Shut up," Simmons barked. "You get this thing running again, that is all you are here for."

"I can never get any tea," Morgan muttered. 

Devon's eyes moved across the tent, looking for something that could be used as a weapon. She knew that this might be their only chance for freedom. Her eyes rested on Morgan and she watched as he suddenly stopped working, as if he had seen something. He turned toward her and said, "Devon, you should be careful if you stand over there." 

Devon puzzled and said, "Why's that, Morgan? 

"Yesterday, I thought I might have seen one of those Killers things back there," Morgan replied and returned to his console. 

Devon paused for a moment, and then moved out of the corner and closer to the comm system.

Simmons grunted. "We've all seen that Walman guy. He's in the cave right now with the rest of your buddies. He's a little worse for wear, but those Killer things didn't kill him."

"He was lucky," Devon said, guessing what Morgan was up to. "We were able to apply the antidote in time." She tried not to look at the shelf where Stanley spent most of his time. "The bite of a Killer will stop a man's heart. You have about fifteen minutes to apply the antidote. I suppose we did lie to your Governor when we told her that there was no known cure. Sure, we took advantage of the situation. It was a fluke and we were lucky to get away with it. The results are the same if the antidote is not given in time; the body would decompose before your eyes."

Simmons stiffened and Rodriguez moved uneasily, eyeing the corner that Devon had just vacated. Morgan glanced back at Devon, "Maybe he's gone by now, huh?"

Stanley, so terribly frightened by recent events, had been hiding on the shelf, in the box that formed his home. He was glad to see familiar faces enter the room and only needed a slight encouragement to show his enthusiasm. When Morgan turned back toward him, he gave Stanley that little hand motion that was an invitation to jump onto his shoulder.

The huge black spider leapt from his shelf, straight at Morgan, legs extended and eyes-stalks flailing. He expected to land gracefully on the human's shoulder, so that he could poke the man a few times on the noggin. He didn't expect his human to fall backward in his chair, screaming as if he were scared for his life. Confused and still high strung from earlier events, Stan sprang to the only other familiar face in the room. He managed to land right on that face. 

The woman spun around, grabbing at the spider as if she was trying to pull him off her face, but she was actually impeding his departure. She flung herself about in the small tent. She cried out and then fell on the floor. The poor spider jumped away from her and skittered off as fast as his eight long spindly legs could carry him. 

"Holy crap!" Simmons said, pulling his weapon and preparing to fire, but the horrible thing was gone before he had a chance. He turned to Rodriguez, to find him white-faced, and collapsing onto the ground. "Rodriguez! Rodriguez!" He toed the fallen guard, but the man had fainted dead away. 

Simmons looked at the carnage. Papers were strewn across the floor, and fluttering about in the air. Martin had pitched straight back on his chair and Adair was just inside the tent, lying on one side, her face turned toward the ground.

"Damn it!" Simmons said. Keeping his gun ready, he ran to the cave. When he stumbled into the dim cavern and barked, "I want that doctor and I want her now!" 

Julia was examining the Cameron's work at patching up Walman's arm. "I am not going anywhere," she said. "I have plenty of work already"

"Then you are letting your own people die," Simmons said. "I need that liaison alive. I need that communication system repaired."

Bess cried sharply, and moved out from under her children. She sprang to the bars of the cell. "What's wrong? What happened to Morgan?"

Uly was also at the front of the cell. "Where's my mother? What's wrong with them?"

Simmons nodded sharply. "Get out here now. You'll need the antidote."

"Antidote?" Julia said as she stood.

"One of those Killers attacked them."

Julia paused for a moment, realizing what had been said. Did Devon have a plan? What was going on. She knelt beside Yale for a moment, wishing she could do something, anything. He was still unconscious. She had bandaged his head, but had not been able to stop the bleeding. She looked to Cameron and said, "Keep an eye on him, okay?"

Cameron nodded solemnly. "You can count on it," he said and moved over to Yale's cot. 

Julia grabbed for Mazatl as she walked to the gate. "I'm going to need help."

Mazatl stood and followed Julia. Simmons frowned, but motioned Holigrove to let them through. Mazatl rested his left hand for a moment on the door jam as he exited the cell, just long enough to force a last bit of torn cloth into the lock.

Uly noted what Mazatl had done, and when Holigrove slammed the door shut, Uly grabbed it and held the gate tightly to its frame. "You better take care of my mother!" He shouted as Simmons and Holigrove escorted the doctor and Mazatl out of the cave. He leaned back slightly and could feel that the gate was loose. It hadn't locked. He leaned against it again, holding so that the guard would not suspect its condition.

Simmons turned back to Veasey. "If you hear any trouble from out here, kill them all," he said darkly. 

Veasey moved farther up the cave, toward the mouth, so that he could hear his fellow guards even though he could not see them. He kept his weapon trained on the occupants of the cell. Cameron and Magus stayed near Yale's still form, while Denner and Bess tried to entertain the five children. Walman watched Uly, who continued to hold the door shut. He had also noted Mazatl's actions, and realized that the lock was now jammed open. They would have to find a way to distract Veasey and then they could take him out. He motioned to Magus, and she knelt down next to him.

****

True stood at the shuttle's communication system and looked over her shoulder at Alex. He watched her seriously. "Be careful," he said. "If they know that it is you who is using this comm system..."

"They won't have a clue," True said with a smile. "Besides, I've learned a think or two about comm-system espionage." She fiddled with the controls, knowing that she'd have to ensure that the relay was fully operational before anything would work. Alex had explained to her that the monitoring signal had been discontinued. Even so, the relay should be operational if you knew how to reach it.

She set the shuttle's system to broadcast on all frequencies so that there would be no way to track down any specific band, and turned up the intensity. Then she cleared her throat and looked at the pilot. "This may seem a little weird," she said.

* * * *

Julia had reached the comm tent, just as Rodriguez shot out the door. She spun out of the way in time to avoid colliding with the guard. "Is it gone?" Rodriguez said in a panic. "Did it go away?"

Simmons frowned at the shaking guard. "The insect isn't here, if that means anything." He grabbed Julia by the shoulder and pushed her into the tent. He glanced in the direction of the MedTent, where Holigrove had taken Mazatl for the necessary supplies. Simmons shouted, "Hurry it up, Holigrove! We need the antidote now!"

Julia had stumbled into the tent, tripping over Devon. She landed on her hands and knees near Morgan. He opened one eye as she hovered over him. She wanted to ask him if they had a plan, if there was anything that she was supposed to do, but there was no time. Simmons entered the tent and she hissed at their liaison, who quickly shut the one eye.

"If he dies, you die," Simmons said sharply. "I need control of that comm system." 

She looked up to see Mazatl and Holigrove heading toward them. The guard handed the medical bag to Simmons when they arrived at the tent. He opened the bag and removed anything that might have been considered a weapon before handing it to the doctor. She frowned, when he removed the scissors, needles and scalpels, but when she opened the bag herself, she was satisfied to see something had avoided his search. Still inside were the harmless looking triangles, grossberry thorns, coated with koba venom. The same device that Walman had used to dose himself three weeks ago.

She was still crouched on the floor, looking into the bag when the comm system suddenly awoke. A barking, growling, howling, whimpering, grunting sound brought the thing to life. Morgan must have connected enough of the system to allow incoming messages. The three guards spun around to face unexpected noise. Julia pulled one of the thorns from its case and stood. She jammed the small spike into Simmons' neck before he had a chance to recover from the shock of the strange sound. Simmons gasped and gargled, reaching for the pain in his neck. He turned, wild eyed to Julia and tried to move his hands to aim his weapon, but his arms had gone numb and he fell like a sack of potatoes to the floor.

Holigrove had been standing beside Devon's inert form. Devon lunged at Holigrove's legs, and felled him like a tree. Mazatl leaped on top of him to hold the guard down. 

Rodriguez ran, screaming in terror. Devon jumped to her feet to run after him. She was only a few meters from the tent when Agnes, the Grendler, stepped out from behind the Solace tent and grabbed hold of the guard. She had returned a day early.

Rodriguez screamed again, "It wasn't me! I didn't do it." He struggled against her awesome grip. "It was Simmons. Simmons killed him. Simmons killed that other one."

Agnes looked to Devon and cooed softly in confusion. The Grendler could understand enough of this human speech to comprehend most of what went around about her. She looked to Devon.

"I'm sorry," Devon said. "I'm so sorry." Agnes wailed in agony.

Julia had already disabled Holigrove with the koba thorn, and was approaching Rodriguez. She realized though, that there was no need, for he would not escape the hug of the grieving Grendler.

"The cave!" Devon cried, "There's still one more guard." And she ran to the cell, remembering that Rodriguez had screamed and what Veasey had been ordered to do.

* * * *

Uly had heard the scream and saw Veasey bring his weapon to ready. The guard was too far away to be taken by rushing through the open gate, too well armed. Magus, Cameron and Walman were trying to come up with a plan to lure the guard to the gate so that they would have a chance of overtaking him, but Veasey was being to cautious. He would have to be distracted long enough to allow the others to reach him. Uly knew what to do. He threw back his head, crossed his arms and disappeared into the rock floor of the cave. 

Veasey, shocked by the sight of a boy being sucked into the ground, sputtered, "What the hell?' as he stumbled backward a few steps. He again raised his weapon, intent on carrying out his orders. Suddenly, the boy rose behind him. Before Veasey had a chance to react, Uly grabbed the guard's arms from behind, ruining his aim. The guard thrashed about, trying to dislodge the young man from his back, but without warning Magus and Cameron were upon him, throwing him to the ground and holding him.

"Uly," Cameron said, somewhat astonished, "that was incredible. I mean, you've gone through dirt before, but never solid rock."

Uly shrugged. "It's not so solid as you think," he replied.

"What was it like?" Magus asked, catching her breath as she sat on Veasey's head.

"Kinda fun," Uly replied with a smile.

Magus, Cameron and Uly were still panting when Mazatl and Devon appeared at the mouth of the cave. Devon fell to her knees beside her son and wrapped her arms around him. "Mom," the boy said with a certain amount of irritation, but it was impossible to ignore the relief in his face as well.

* * * *

Danziger kept his eye on the slope before him. He had come up with a small plan, if he could get it to work. They had been traveling for almost an hour, but hadn't covered much distance. He was doing what he could to slow down their progress by sending them up over the steep hills, when they could have easily traveled along their bases. The poor traction on the rain soaked hillsides aided his slow-down tactic. The rain had stopped by now, but the sky was still gray and overcast. 

He had managed to work the manacles off by this time. They had been improperly set, and it was only a matter of time before he was able to remove them. His hands were torn and sore from the effort. Bower's GEAR was sitting on the seat between them. Danziger would need to get his hands on of it.

What he needed now was a diversion. He received it almost immediately. "What the hell is that?" The guard Hawking said, wincing as he pulled his GEAR away from his head. Danziger could hear the indistinct but loud grumbling and howling from Hawking's GEAR. The guard slammed on the brakes.

Raddison, who was following close behind, and also distracted by the overpowering sound coming over the comm system, rammed into the first DuneRail. Everyone was jolted, Danziger grabbed Bower's GEAR and tumbled off the side. Bower glared back at Raddison, his anger overtaking his sensibilities for a moment, as Danziger tucked himself into a ball and rolled down the steep slope. He leapt to his feet and disappeared around the bend.

Vance, from behind them, shouted, "You idiots! Get after him!"

Bower recovered and smacked Hawking once soundly across the head with the Taser. "Moron, you're letting him get away!"

Hawking set the DuneRail in motion. It hopped and baubled down the hill after their escaped captive and around the bend in the hills. He stopped the vehicle and they stared out at the scene. 

They heard the second DuneRail grind up slowly behind them. The vehicle, with its front end mashed in, died quietly at the side of the lake that greeted them. Raddison crawled out and muttered, "It wasn't my fault. I'm not a trained driver."

Bower grabbed the aide by his collar and shouted into his face, "Where the hell did he go!" 

"Enough already," Vance said, as she joined the others. Bower, Hawking, Tulmey, Raddison and Vance looked out across the still pond and along the rocky hillside. There was no trace of their captive, not even a ripple on the water.

* * * *

Council Guard Reno moved his arms slowly and carefully, extracting his hands from the knots that Danziger had placed him in. He worked the ropes off his hands and started on the cords that bound his legs. 

Trimble had once again toppled onto the lap of Lender. He was struggling to right himself when saw that Reno was up and walking. "Untie me immediately!" he demanded, trying to turn his head out of Lender's crotch.

Reno moved quickly away from the others and recovered something he been keeping an eye on for some time. When Danziger had quickly loaded the DuneRail, something had fallen from the vehicle. Reno recognized what it was. 

"Corporal Reno! I demand that you untie me at once!" Trimble shouted as Lender tried again to roll his commanding officer off his lap.

Reno picked up the GEAR set and pulled it on. He was just about to make contact with his home base when the most incredible sound met his ears, a grunting growling barking sound that reverberated in his head. He winced at the intensity and strangeness of the sound and glanced back at Trimble, Lender and Farrow. "I think some of those Grendler things got ahold of our comm system."

* * * *

"Was that True?" Devon asked, once Morgan sat down at the controls of the comm system.

"Huh?" Morgan said, distracted, "Of course it was **_true_**, do you think she would lie?"

"What?" Devon said, confused at the response. She shook her head and tried again, "Was that True on the comm system?"

Morgan glanced over his shoulder at Devon, and then seemed to realize what Devon had said. "Yeah, yeah, True's fine," Morgan replied finally, "I guess that Council pilot is helping her. She said that she could trust him. They're going to take the Council Shuttle to find Danziger. The Council has him and they are taking him somewhere. She's asking that I throw up that communication interference so that they can get off the ground and find him unnoticed."

Devon smiled. True was safe, and perhaps Danziger would be safe too. It seemed remarkable that the Council's pilot would help them, but stranger things had happened. She hoped that True would be careful, but Devon knew True well enough to trust her common sense.

Devon nodded sharply to Morgan, "Get that interference going. Alonzo and Baines are probably going out of their minds wondering why it's taking so long to get started."

* * * *

"What did they say?" Baines said excitedly. "What did they say?" He had never quite mastered the Grendler language. He could recognize a few words, such as 'hungry', 'trade' and 'pie,' but had never learned enough to understand a sentence.

Alonzo said, "I think it was True. She said something about a pilot and a ship, but she wasn't talking about us. She says she has help. She says that they are going to look for Danz and she asked for the communication interference to start."

"Yeah, that's what we've been sitting around here waiting for," Baines groused. "How did she get away from the Council? Why is she using the wide band? Why is she talking in Grendler?"

"I don't know," Alonzo said and frowned. "I think there's a lot more going on down there than we suspect."

Baines shrugged, "Yeah, well, until they start that interference, I'd might as well take a nap."

Suddenly a booming sound interrupted them and then the comm system went dead - hissing sporadically. 

"No time for a nap," Alonzo said. "It looks like we are on center stage now." He brought the Sunray back to life, firing up its main engines. The Sunray rose from the Lesser Moon, as Alonzo aimed it to the now blind Council Ship.

* * * *

True smiled when the comm-system fell victim to the jamming. "Are you ready?" she asked. "They won't be able to track us now. No one will even realize that the shuttle has taken off."

"She'll know," Alex said, pointing out of the main window of the shuttle and toward the approaching aide, Alison LaSalle.

True sat back in her seat. "Do you have a weapon?" she asked quickly.

Alex shook his head and said, "No, why would I want one?"

From her vantage point, True could see the woman drawing nearer. "Quick, we have to think of something."

Alex turned to the shuttle door as Alison knocked for entry. "Be still," he said to True as he swung open the door. 

Alison stood in the opening. "The comm system is down again. I need to see if yours is working."

Alex gestured vaguely toward the mechanism. "It is yours to try." 

The aide sighed and looked at True, who sat as still as possible in the chair. "Is she giving you any trouble?"

"She is good," Alex responded. 

LaSalle smiled tightly and entered the shuttle. She started to move toward the communication panel when Alex held her shoulder.

She turned to him, perplexed. "What is it, Alex?" she asked.

Alex nodded to True, who stood and moved away from the chair where she had been restrained. LaSalle's eyes grew large. "I am sorry, but we must not let you go," Alex said, guiding the aide to the chair and sitting her down gently. LaSalle was too confused to resist. He held out his hand for True and she handed him the cuffs. "I will not hurt you," he promised the aide as he applied the restraints. "Is it too tight? Are you comfortable?"

"What are you doing?" LaSalle said, her voice revealing puzzlement, but not panic. "What's going on?"

"We are to rescue her father," Alex replied. "You will be safe. I will do nothing to hurt you."

"But Alex!" LaSalle asked sullenly, "You are one of us. How could you do this? How could you betray us?"

Alex checked the cuffs to ensure they were secure, but humanely set. "I am sorry. It is not my meaning to betray." He looked to True. "But I must do what is right. This is right." 

* * * *

Alonzo maneuvered the Sunray in beside the massive Council Ship. There was always the possibility that someone was looking out one of the portals and may have spotted them, but they were banking on the fact that there were too few people awake, and that they were too busy to bother.

They searched for a docking port, and found a convenient place near the bridge. The moment the smaller ship made contact, it performed a service it was designed to do, it connected with the ship's computer system and blended in. The Sunray had been a shape-shifter's ship. Although the ship itself did not change shape, it may as well have. The moment it made contact with a foreign computer system, it hid its existence. It told the other computer that it wasn't there and the computer believed it.

Alonzo and Baines looked at each other for a minute. "Well, we're here," Alonzo said finally. 

Baines nodded and picked up a weapon. "I guess we gotta do it."

"Two of us against who knows what," Alonzo said with a sigh. "Ready?"

Baines nodded and Alonzo opened the airlock that separated them from the Council Ship.

* * * *

Danziger sat back in the cave that had been created by the shape-shifter. It had once served as a holding cell for Morgan, and now it was a hiding place. Danziger sucked on his bloodied knuckles as he listened to the Council members moving about along the lakeside, and watched them on a monitor. This place would remain hidden unless they knew specifically where to look, and use an exact frequency to shut down the illusion that hid the doorway. Danziger had been able to set Bower's pilfered GEAR to the correct channel just in time to get through the illusion and reset it before the first DuneRail appeared on the scene.

The Council had broken into teams and were scouting the area. Raddison was looking out across the pond, looking air bubbles, snorkels or perhaps he was just trying to avoid the others. Bower was storming up and down the sandy shore and Vance sat majestically in the undamaged DuneRail. They could look all they wanted; they would not be able to find him here. 

The others Advancers, certainly, would have been able to rescue True by now. He was banking on that fact. As long as True was safe, he could stay here forever. He had heard the Council members complain about the interference on their comm-system. It was a sure sign that someone in New Atlantica had sprung a plan to free his daughter.

The guard named Tulmey walked near the entrance to the cave and Danziger cringed as the illusion vibrated in his passing. Danziger panicked for moment, knowing that the illusion was the only thing that hid him from the Council. Tulmey did not seem to notice. There was no reason for that to happen, unless. Danziger could see a GEAR set hanging from Tulmey's waist. If that comm-jamming signal was running on all frequencies, it was probably hitting the frequency that the illusion generator used. The GEAR was setting it off. Danziger looked first at Bower's stolen GEAR. He had turned it off, so it wasn't going to effect the illusion. He glanced at the monitor to see the searching guards. Both Tulmey and Raddison were still carrying their useless GEAR. With any luck they would not pass this way again.

"Damn it!" Danziger muttered, "How the hell did **_they_** get loose." He saw several familiar faces suddenly join the group. Trimble, and the others he had captured earlier that day, stumbled into the valley surrounding the pond. They looked a little disheveled, muddy and lost, but happy to return to the rest of their group. Danziger listened to Trimble's report and had to keep himself from laughing at the lieutenant's description of their capture. Trimble certainly had a way of exaggerating his own actions. Reno looked embarrassed as he watched his commanding officer. 

Vance listened to the report with a grave face. "We should send them back to camp," Raddison suggested. 

"They will remain here and find that man," Vance said between gritted teeth. "If Danziger is not found, everyone will pay."

The four newcomers joined the others quickly and began the search, and majority of the group disappeared from view. Danziger could now only see Bower and Vance.

"You will find him," Vance said darkly, "And he will be executed for the way he has disgraced the Council."

Bower nodded, "I thought that was always part of the plan." He grinned mockingly. "You haven't come up with any new ideas for a while."

"And you should remain quiet," Vance replied. "You have much to own up to as well."

Danziger's view was momentarily blocked as someone walked in front of the cave. Again, the illusion shimmered slightly. This time, the figure stopped and retraced its steps. The guard stepped closer to the hiding place and touched the shimmering rock wall. The illusion crumbled and the hiding place revealed.

"Mr. Danziger," Corporal Reno said congenially, "I think it is time for me to return a favor."

* * * *

The Advancers had carefully moved Yale out of the cell and into the old Med Tent. Julia sat beside him again, doing nothing more than holding his hand and talking quietly. "Hang on, Yale," she said softly. "Just hang on." His blood pressure was dropping and his pulse was weakening. "Please, Yale, just stay with us."

The Advancers then performed the sad task of moving Ed. Morgan talked to Agnes, in that strange grunting language. He tried to tell her things that would make her feel better, but couldn't think of anything. He never was very good at coming up with decent things to say. He wished that Yale was awake or that True was here. They both were much better at things like this. He always ended up saying stupid things.

"Look," he finally said to the bawling Grendler, "We sure liked the guy and we're going to miss him a lot. And you can stay with us if you want, you and Ted, as long as you like. You're one of our family, you know."

Agnes wrapped her all encompassing arms around the liaison and squeezed, "Careful!" Morgan gasped. "I break easy." 

****

Bower had dragged Danziger from his hiding place and hauled him out into the open. "So, you think you can make a fool out of me, do you?"

"Making a fool out of you wasn't my doing," Danziger said under his breath. "You did that yourself."

Bower hauled back to hit the mechanic, but stopped and instinctively ducked. Danziger rolled out of his grip and looked up to see the Council Shuttle bearing down on them. It screamed in close and the weapons exploded off the shuttle's starboard side, sending Farrow and Lender flying. The air crackled with the electric pulse generated from the large-scale version of Bower's Taser-Rifle. Trimble and Hawking dove under a DuneRail.

Vance glared at the sky as the Shuttle came in low and fast and then rolled away. She grabbed Raddison by the collar and shoved him before herself. "Get into the cave!" she barked. The aide stumbled and fell. The Governor jumped over him and ran toward the cave that Danziger had recently vacated. 

The shuttle came in again. Tulmey and Reno were both under the second DuneRail by now. Reno was forcing Tulmey's head back further into cover. Farrow and Lender were senseless on the ground. Bower stood in the midst of it all. He had let his Taser fall and was now pointing his laser pistol at the ship that pitched and rolled and was coming back at him.

Danziger could see into the cockpit of the shuttle. There was the blonde pilot, his face set, as he artfully maneuvered the ship in close, and beside him was a young woman. "True..." Danziger whispered. He glanced back over to Bower. The bodyguard stood stiffly, his pistol raised and pointed at the propulsion system of the shuttle. The Council Mechanic knew what he was doing. At such close range he could detonate the craft. 

Without thinking, Danziger ran at Bower, scooping the Taser up as he ran. Bower's concentration was centered on the approaching shuttle and he didn't even know what hit him when Danziger fired the weapon. The bodyguard fell in a huge heap on the ground.

The shuttle banked in again, firing just short of the first DuneRail. Trimble, terrified, ran out to where Raddison still lay with his hands on his head. Trimble shouted to the craft as he raised his hands, "We surrender! We surrender!" Hawking strode up reluctantly beside him, hands in the air. 

Danziger waved to the shuttle, which broke off the attack. He picked up Bower's pistol and then moved to disarm the two surrendering guards. He had just pulled the weapon from Trimble's shaking hands when the crackling beam of a miss-aimed MagPro exploded over his shoulder.

He looked to see Reno force the weapon out of Tulmey's hands. "What are you, an idiot?" Reno said as he tossed the weapon into the open, and then crawled out from under the DuneRail. He reached back to drag Tulmey with him. "They got the shuttle. It's time to give up."

Danziger motioned for Reno and Tulmey to join the others as the shuttle landed nearby. He smiled when his daughter exited the ship. She stood for a moment in the doorway and then ran to him. She threw her arms around his neck and embraced him, "Daddy, I am so glad your safe," she said tearfully, "I was so afraid."

He was careful to keep an eye on his captives, and when his daughter released him, he handed her the Taser. "Keep an eye on them, True-Girl," he said as he took up Bower's laser pistol.

He glanced up at Alex as he debarked from the shuttle. He nodded solemnly to the pilot, and then headed to the cave where Vance had disappeared. 

Vance had made her way to the back of the cave and had holed herself up in the cell. She had managed to arm herself with a chair, and she swung it wildly as Danziger approached her. Her hair was a mess, and her clothing torn. She looked like a wild woman, captured. The mechanic aimed the pistol and she dropped the chair with a clatter. 

"I would have found all of you if it wasn't for that bastard Alex! If he didn't betray me, all of you would have died." Vance growled.

Danziger smiled slightly. "You never would have found the rest of us," he replied. 

"I would have won!" Vance said as she sat heavily on the cold stone floor and wrapped her arms around herself. "I would have won."

Danziger remembered that he had killed two men, and that Grand was dead. He remembered that he and True were both held as captives, that he hadn't seen Devon for a year, that all of their lives had been disrupted. "This was never a game," he said quietly.

* * * *

Baines and Alonzo crept through several of the winding corridors of the Council's ship before they were able to get their bearings and find their way to the main sectors. They were able to ascertain that the only crew members awake, were now gathered in one room. 

Now they stood, their backs flat to the wall and listened. There were voices beyond a doorway. They looked at each other and both nodded. This was it. Following a deep resolute breath, Alonzo flung the hatch open. The two men leapt into the room, weapons drawn, and prepared for ... well ... they weren't prepared for this.

It appeared to be the break room. Lt. Governor Parkins, Doctor Li, two guards and one nurse were present. Everyone was sufficiently surprised, most of them were partially undressed. They seemed to be in the middle of a rather cutthroat game of strip poker. The guards leapt to their feet but looked around stupidly and grabbed for their pants. Li pulled on her blouse and the nearly nude Parkins looked as if he wanted to disappear into the floor. The nurse, who appeared to be winning, simply set down her cards and held up her hand in surrender.

* * * *

Danziger, True and Alex had moved their captives into the shuttle's cargo hold. Bower was barely awakening when they were ready to move him. When Alex squatted down beside him, Bower said, "Why the hell didja do it, Reinhardt? Why did you turn on us?"

"I am not the one who betrayed," Alex said. And then he added, "Why did YOU do it? Why did you kill Nathan?"

Bower turned away, and said groggily, "It wasn't me. It was the girl."

"I am not stupid, Jim," Alex said. "Tell me, why did you kill him. He was one of us."

"He annoyed me," Bower growled.

Alex stepped back and looked at the others and said nothing more. 

Once they had stowed Bower in the cargo hold with the rest, Danziger pulled on the GEAR he had stolen and tested it. The interference had been removed; the channel was open again. He dialed up the frequency that would bring him across the continent and signaled.

He was met with Morgan's concerned face. "What the hell are you doing? You know better than to transmit on this channel! They'll glom right onto us!"

"We got 'em Morgan. We got the whole bunch of them," Danziger said tiredly. "And by the way, we're okay."

"All of them?" Morgan said incredulously. "How did you capture all of them?"

"Hey! Are we talking again?" Baines chimed in. "Cause we captured a whole bunch of them here. They were rough. They were ruthless. But we got 'em! Lonz is just putting the last one into ColdSleep right now."

"You've taken the ship? They got the ship!" Morgan said over his shoulder. He was obviously talking to others around him, and suddenly both Devon and Julia joined in.

"Is everyone okay?" Devon said hurriedly. "Danziger, is True all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's here with me, converting the enemy."

"Baines!' Julia cut in, "I need you to get whatever medical equipment you can lay your hands on and get it here fast. I need a DiaGlove, a SedaDerm, a lab kit... just grab everything in the medical bay and bring it here now."

Baines looked flabbergasted, "But we just got here. I mean WE took the ship. We just can't leave it."

"Who's gonna take it away from you?" Danziger put in. "Besides, we got another ship. We can go baby-sit it for you."

"Another ship?" Baines expression did not change. 

"Baines!' Julia ordered, "The medical gear. NOW!"

"Ah, okay," Baines responded and signed off.

Devon waited until Julia and Morgan left the transmission before she spoke again, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Danziger replied. "A few scuffs and scrapes. I'll survive."

"We need you back with us," Devon said softly. "I need you back. I have missed you so much."

"I'll be coming as quick as I can."

"I trust you," she continued. "I do. I trust you more than I can say. I knew you were not going to give us away. I knew..."

"I love you," Danziger said, stopping Devon instantly. He stared at her image for several moments, seeing the tears form in her eyes, wishing he could throw his arms around her. "I love you."

"John..." Devon's voice trailed.

* * * *

Somewhere in the midst of all, no one could say exactly when, a little tunnel spider on the wrong side of the continent found his way back to the vortex and headed home. His polar-relatives had not been very friendly and the whole atmosphere of the western location had set his nerves on end. When he crawled back out onto the right-side, back among his family and friends, the little love-spider had to admit, it was good to be home again.

* * * *

Yale's eyes fluttered open and he stared at the familiar ceiling of the new hospital. He smiled slightly, realizing that the new hospital was five years old now. He wondered if they would ever call it anything else. He turned his head slightly and discovered that it was a rather painful endeavor, so he returned his head to its original position and his vision was suddenly crowded with faces.

"Yale!" Uly said brightly, "You're okay!" 

There was Devon beaming down at him and Julia smiling. "Glad to have you back with us," Julia said, as she ran her hand over his head.

"Julia," Yale said quizzically, "You have your DiaGlove again?"

She smiled again, "A little gift from our Council friends. They also left us four slightly used, partially damaged, DuneRails; quite a few weapons; some rather militaristic clothing; a nice stash of coffee and a portable lavatory that is constantly in the process of backing up."

"The Council! What happened? The last thing I can remember is that we were still in New Atlantica." The tutor winced slightly as he spoke. 

Julia ran the DiaGlove gently over his implant area. "You received a pretty nasty blow to the head. Thanks to our old friend here," she wiggled the fingers of the DiaGlove for emphasis, "we were able to repair the damage and bring you back to us. The implants were not damaged, but many of the connections had been torn."

Yale smiled grimily, "I suppose that would explain the rather oppressive headache."

"Let me brew you some black-bark tea. That should help," Julia said and patted him on the shoulder.

Yale frowned slightly, "And what about the Council?"

"They are gone, or almost gone," Devon explained. "I'll fill you in on all the details later, but let's just say that we have put them back on their ship and slipped them into ColdSleep for their journey home."

"Devon!" Morgan's voice sounded from somewhere in the vicinity of the entrance. "Hey, Yale!" He limped into the room and came into Yale's limited vision. "You're awake. That must mean that the Council's DiaGlove works. So there weren't any booby traps. Sign me up, Julia. I'm next on the list."

"Yes, Morgan." Julia said with a shake of her head, "You are on the list. Remember what I told you though, I don't have the proper prosthetics to do a total repair."

"Fine, yeah, whatever," Morgan motioned with his cane to the door. "They're ready."

Devon held the tutor's hand for a moment longer. "It is so good to have you back," she said. She waited for Yale to smile before she left him.

Devon and Julia headed out of the hospital and into the night. The shuttle stood in the glow of their trusty and well-worn camp-lites. Mazatl, Magus, Danziger and Alonzo had just finished unloading the rest of the supplies that had been raided from the Council Ship, and many of the crates still littered the area. Zero was trying to arrange the crates into some sensible order, but seemed to be having trouble finding a manner of organizing the supplies, and continually moved the same boxes back and forth. The food stores on board the ship had not been touched.

Hugh sat on one of the crates and when is father passed, he rose up suddenly and held his hands high. The other children were asleep, but Hugh insisted on staying up to see his father. Alonzo smiled and swept the boy into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I missed my big boy while I was gone," he whispered into the boy's ear. Julia tugged at her husband's elbow, and he wrapped his arms around both of them. "It feels so good to be home."

Agnes appeared in the camp with her son, Ted, riding on her hip and a pack of belongings on her back. True approached her and spoke solemnly to the Grendler who grunted softly to her. When they were done speaking, Agnes moved over toward the others. She glared at the shuttle for a moment and then moved on. When she saw Morgan she grunted and then headed to the Martin house.

Bess leaned close to Morgan and watched as Agnes fumbled with the door and then made her way into their home. "Why is she going to our house, honey?" Bess asked.

"Ah, Bess," Morgan said, "there's something I need to tell you..." He looked into Bess' confused eyes and then said, "Remember how you were saying that you wanted to expand the house a third time?"

Devon turned to look for Alex and found him near the horse field. Walman, wearing his arm in a sling, and Baines, with a luma-lite, were with him, but Alex was interested in something else. He was talking Baines' nut-brown mare, Dolly, holding her head against him and running his hands through her thick mane. _"Sie sind ein hübsches_ _Pferd,"_ he said softly in her ear. _"Erinnern Sie sich an Ihre Mutter? Erklärte sie Ihnen über Anna?"_ The horse nickered and pressed her head against his chest. _"Schönes braunes Pferd, was wissen Sie?" _His voice was soft and sad as he caressed the head of the horse whose ancestors were touched by the people he had loved.

Uly had told him everything that he could remember about the dream of Anna Gerting, and Alex had listened silently. When the story was finished, the pilot had smiled and said, "I am glad that you told her, that you told her about how she helped you. Thank you for giving me the story."

When Devon approached, Alex released the horse, who reluctantly moved away. "Thank you," Devon said.

"I have done what is right," Alex responded. "I must do what is right. And it is time to return to the Earth Stations."

"Wait until dawn," Devon said as they walked to the shuttle. "It will only be a few more hours."

Alex shook his head. "Too much time has passed. It is time to go now."

"I hope you know what you're doing. It will take you twenty-two years to reach Earth. I don't think you realize how long that it when you are not in Cold Sleep," Devon said seriously.

"I have been asleep too long. I was asleep when my people died. I was asleep while the children of the Earth Stations died from the Syndrome," Alex responded. "The Council Ship was not the last to leave the stations for this planet. Other ships are coming. I will meet them as we return home. I will explain to them the way things are." 

She looked at Alex sadly. "If it were only that easy. You have a difficult life ahead of you." There was enough food on board to feed the 100 passengers for four years. It would be enough to feed one man for 22. But food was only one of the concerns. How could a man live alone for 22 years?

"Many years ago I promised Anna Gerting that I would return to her and bring the people of Earth to this place, to be their new home. I have not done that yet. This is something I must do."

The Advancers crowded around the shuttle and wished the pilot well. True kissed him quietly on his cheek and Danziger thumped him hard on his back. He noticed the huge black spider waggle its foremost feet at him, as it pearched on the liaison's shoulder (where it had not budged since they returned to Roanoake Colony). 

Alex shut the door to the ship and sat down in the cockpit and looked out at Eden Advance. They were smiling and waving at him. He waved back abruptly and signaled for them to move away. He brought the shuttle on line and took off into the night sky.

Alex brought the ship in low, swung wide across the ocean, then headed back inland. He crossed over the dark Last-Step Mountains. The sky was beginning to lighten as he raced over the surface of the planet, over the place where the New Earth Explorers Alpha Team, lead by Anna Gerting, had landed. He flew above the dense forest where they had blazed an impossible trail. He crossed the great river, which shone in the early morning light. The black stone bridge almost disappeared in the dimness. He then passed over the landing site of the Beta Team. Below him the land grew brighter until he was in broad daylight. The shuttle rose, leaving the atmosphere of G889, and heading into space.

* * * *

The sun rose over the Last-Step Mountains. Devon thought it was one of the most beautiful sights in the world. She leaned against Danziger and sighed. "We're home again. We can call the Colony Ship now. It's safe. It should only take about six months and it will be here."

"There's been no more dreams then?" Danziger asked. "No more Future Ulys telling you horror stories?"

"No more dreams," Devon replied.

The early morning air was cool and moist. The others would be waking up soon enough, to resume their neglected duties at Roanoke Colony, but for now it was just John and Devon and the sunrise. "I missed you so much," Danziger said, his voice breaking slightly. "All I wanted was to return to you."

"All I wanted was to have you with me again." Devon wrapped her arms around Danziger's waist and sighed.

"You made me a promise," Danziger started.

"When the Colony Ship arrives..." Devon continued.

Danziger pressed his mouth against her neck and then said, "I say that now is close enough."

Devon sighed and looked out toward the sun, which continued to rise steadily over the mountains. "Yes," she said quietly.

Danziger stopped and met her eye. "Yes?"

She smiled and repeated, "Yes." And the two embraced in the early morning glow.

****

THE END

* * *

__

Okay, that's the end of this so-called trilogy. Didja like it? Did you understand what I was talking about at the beginning? Well, hopefully it all worked out okay. This apparently is the LAST story in my saga, unless of course I can think of another. Send encouragement.

[Comments Welcome][1]

   [1]: mailto:nodingos@cheerful.com



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